Edwin Lutyens: His Life, His Wife, His Work

The work of Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944) includes the Cenotaph in Whitehall, much of Imperial New Delhi and especially his masterpiece, Viceroy's House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan), Queen Mary's dolls' house and Hampstead Garden Suburb. But his greatest heritage is the traditional Edwardian country house, an architectural style he made his own, using local materials and often working with Gertrude Jekyll who planted the gardens for his family homes. This is a full biography of a witty, complex personality, a man who had little formal education, who loved jokes and hated growing up. It is also a portrait of an extraordinary marriage. His wife, Emily, fell in love with Krishnamurti, 21 years her junior and believed to be the reincarnation of a god, and she thereafter spent her time and her husband's money promoting Theosophy, a Hindu-inspired cult. Lutyens's failure to find a common language with Emily possibly drove him to achieve the remarkable communication through the language of architecture which characterises his best work.