ABSTRACT
In her autobiography Jameson describes her move to London from Yorkshire in 1932 as her 'road to Damascus', taking her 'from the margins into the centre at the very moment when the current dragging writers into politics was gathering force'.8 Both she and Brittain became increasingly active in the politics of this decade. In 1933 Jameson instigated a symposium on the danger of war, resulting in a publication of essays (which she edited), Challenge to Death, to which Brittain also contributed.9 Both women later became sponsors of the Peace Pledge Union (Jameson in 1936, Brittain in 1937), and as President of P.E.N, (from 1938) Jameson played a leading part in the effort to save refugees from Nazi Germany, while Brittain remained a prominent anti-war spokesperson on public platforms and in print. By the outbreak of the Second World War, however, Brittain's and Jameson's political positions had changed. Jameson resigned from the Peace Pledge Union after the invasion of Czechoslovakia in November 1938 (though she did not admit this to Brittain until 1940), while Brittain maintained her pacifist position throughout the war. It is to these political differences that the 'failure' of this friendship (which ended finally in 1941) is commonly attributed.10 It is my view, however, that difficulties arising from a conflict between homosexual desires and prohibitions played a significant part.
