"A preliminary sketch of the career of Ida John (1877-1907) can make her look like the original Bohemian Girl . . . and yet the message of 'The Good Bohemian'–a collection of Ida John's letters, scrupulously edited by Ida's granddaughter Rebecca John and Augustus's biographer Michael Holroyd–is just how woefully short this caricature sells its subject and indeed the behavioral standards of the early 20th-century English art world. Ida is constantly confounding our expectations by behaving in ways that other bohemian women did not . . . and her letters are proof of a highly distinctive personality." - Wall Street Journal
"Rarely have I come across a more engaging personality." - Times Literary Supplement, "Books of the Year"
"In the letters, erotic energy occasionally seems to be pushing in all directions at once . . . She may have forfeited her chance to paint, but her letters, salvaged by her granddaughter Rebecca, after a century during which the renegade Ida was not mentioned in the family, make belated amends. Between baby-minding chores, she proved to be a witty, wickedly outspoken writer, which ensures that she will now not be forgotten." - Peter Conrad, Guardian
"A compelling glimpse of a lost age of bohemia that raises provocative questions about what it means to live freely." - Lara Feigel, Guardian
"Ida's letters provide a fine example of how female voices can provide new perspectives on past eras, revealing a slice of social history as Victorian certainties morphed into Edwardian social experimentation. Ida's raw honesty about her situation draws the reader in, and the editors provide excellent notes framing the letters . . . the book is ultimately inspiring for her humor, courage, grace, and resilience." - Publishers Weekly
"It is a terrible ending to a terrible story. You might say that it was all Ida's fault. She was just a silly goose who mistook her grander for a phoenix. But that would not be true to the brave, witty, imaginative, sensitive, playful, talented woman who wrote these letters. It is right that, after more than one hundred years, she should have her say." - Sunday Times
"The letters of Ida Nettleship, first wife of arch-bohemian Augustus John, are a case in point: gathered together here from diverse sources by her granddaughter Rebecca John and expertly introduced by John's biographer Michael Holroyd, they constitute a rare epistolary treasure trove . . . they give us a startlingly vivid picture of what it was like to be bound by passion, loyalty and an ever-growing brood of offspring to a 'genius' . . . the fine balance between tragedy and comedy in her situation finds expression in letters so fresh that it is hard to believe they were written more than a century ago." - Spectator
"Their sympathetic edition of her fascinating and painful letters reveals a courageous woman, gifted with a buoyant intelligence." - The Times
"These letters should resurrect [Ida] as a wit and object of fascination in her own right." - Daily Telegraph
"This collection of letters helps give us a small glimpse into the late-Victorian world as it changed into modern society . . . They are chatty, verbose, and provide an intimate look into late 19th-century Europe . . . Ida John was not afraid to share her opinions . . . She set off on her own life, going against Victorian-era conventions, and we get a look at it with this collection." - Manhattan Book Review
"An inherently fascinating read from cover to cover, 'The Good Bohemian' is exceptionally well organized and presented." - Midwest Book Review
