A Glastonbury Romance was written by John Cowper Powys (1872–1963) in rural upstate New York and first published by Simon and Schuster in New York City in March 1932. An English edition published by John Lane followed in 1933. It has "nearly half-a-million words" and was described as "probably the longest undivided novel in English".H. P. Collins, John Cowper Powys: Old Earth-Man. London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1966, p.78.

It is the second of Powys's Wessex novels, along with Wolf Solent (1929), Weymouth Sands (1934) and Maiden Castle (1936). Powys was an admirer of Thomas Hardy and these novels are set in Somerset and Dorset, parts of Hardy's mythical Wessex. The action occurs over roughly a year, and the first two chapters of A Glastonbury Romance take place in Norfolk, where the late Canon William Crow's will is read, and the Crow family learn that his secretary-valet John Geard has inherited his wealth. Also in Norfolk, a romance begins between cousins, John and Mary Crow. However, after an important scene at the ancient monument of Stonehenge, the rest of the action takes place in or near the Somerset town of Glastonbury, which is some ten miles north of the village of Montacute. Powys's father, the Reverend Charles Francis Powys (1843–1923), was parish priest of Montacute from 1885 to 1918, and it was here that Powys grew up. The grail legends associated with the town of Glastonbury are of major importance in this novel, and Welsh mythology has, for the first time, a significant role.Jeremy Hooker, John Cowper Powys. University of Wales Press, 1973, p. 44.

Summary of the plot

The book is divided into two sections, which reflects Simon and Schuster's original plan to publish the book in two separate volumes, as they had done with Wolf Solent. The climax of volume 1 is Geard's pageant, part of his plan to revive Glastonbury as a place of religious pilgrimage. The Pageant has three parts: "Arthurian scenes at the beginning", then a "Christmas 'Passion Play' ", followed by a final "prehistoric portion". However the Pageant ends abruptly during the second part, when Owen Evans, who is enacting Christ's death on the Cross, collapses. In volume 2's final chapter, "The Flood", the sea invades the land, Geard dies, and Glastonbury becomes an island once again.

The action begins in Norfolk with the funeral Canon William Crow and the reading of his will, and where the romance between the cousins John and Mary Crow begins. The Crow family members are shocked to learn that William' Crow's secretary-valet, John Geard, has inherited most of the deceased's wealth. John Crow then sets off to walk to Glastonbury, where he will rejoin Mary. While crossing Salisbury Plain he is offered a ride in Owen Evans' car and the two men visit Stonehenge.

A central aspect of A Glastonbury Romance is the attempt by John Geard, ex-minister, who becomes the mayor, to restore Glastonbury to its medieval glory as a place of religious pilgrimage. On the other hand, the Glastonbury industrialist Philip Crow, along with John and Mary Crow, and Tom Barter, all whom are from Norfolk, view the myths and legends of the town with contempt. Philip's vision is of a future with more mines and more factories. John Crow, however, as he is penniless, takes on the task of organizing a pageant for Geard. At the same time an alliance of Anarchists, Marxists, and Jacobins try to turn Glastonbury into a commune.

Like Powys, Owen Evans is a devoted student of Welsh mythology. He also resembles Powys in that he has strong urges toward violence and sadism, and is often tempted by sadistic pornography. But Evans is not the only character that resembles his creator, as both John Geard and John Crow reflect, in different ways, aspects of Powys's personality.

A Glastonbury Romance has several climactic moments, before the major final one. Firstly there is Sam Dekker's decision, following his Grail vision, to give-up of his adulterous affair with Nell Zoyland, and to lead a monk-like existence. Then there is Evans' failed attempt to destroy his sadistic urge by playing the part of Christ on the Cross at the Easter Pageant, followed by his wife Cordelia's ability to defeat his desire to witness a murder. The attempted murder of John Crow is equally climatic, but this involves Tom Barter's death, when he saves his friend John Crow, who is Mad Bet's intended victim.

Finally the novel concludes with the a flooding of the low lying country surrounding Glastonbury, so that it becomes once again the legendary Isle of Avalon. This leads the death of Geard, and ends his ambitious plans for Glastonbury. However, the ending is ambiguous, rather than tragic, because Geard had earlier had asked John Crow: "do you suppose anyone's ever committed suicide out of an excess of life, simply to enjoy the last experience in full consciousness?"

In the novel's final pages there is a panegyric to "the great goddess Cybele", the "Goddess Earth" (See also - Gaia, Demeter, Persephone, Rhea), whom "The powers of reason and science gather in the strong light of the Sun to beat ... down. But evermore she rises again".

Characters The numerous inhabitants of Glastonbury, include: "a sadist, a madwoman, a vicar, a procuress, eccentric servants, spinster ladies, lovelorn maidens, lesbians ... anarchists, communists, romantic lovers, old men, and young children".

John Geard, a mystic who influenced the late Canon Crow of Glastonbury and received the man's riches when he died. Geard becomes mayor of the town during the course of the novel and becomes obsessed with the Grail Legend, commissioning new monuments for the town and promoting his own religious brand of Grail-worship. He is married to Megan Geard—a marriage that is still physically passionate unlike that of Geard's rival, Philip Crow. Geard becomes fascinated with the youthful and delicate daughter of the Marquis of P., Rachel Zoyland. Megan Geard has Welsh ancestry, as her maiden name was Rhys. The Geard's were a prominent family of Baptists in Montacute,"Montacute", British History Online where Powys's father was vicar for 32 years. Cordelia Geard, daughter of John and Megan Geard. She is described as "very plain" and "very dark", "with a thin, awkward bony figure". Her name Cordelia may indicate a mythological identification with Creiddylad, daughter of Lludd in The Mabinogion.The Mabinogion, translated by Lady Charlotte Guest (1906). J. M. Dent: London, 1927, p. 310. Her admirer, Owen Evans, identifies her with the Grail Messenger. Creiddylad is the name that Porius gives to the giantess in Powys's novel, Porius. Crummie Geard, Cordelia's beautiful, younger sister, who has "fair" hair and "violet-coloured eyes". She is in love with Sam Dekker, and is described by Glen Cavaliero, as a grail-bearer to Sam. John Crow, a young man from Norfolk who comes from France to attend funeral of his grandfather Canon William Crow. There he meets his cousin Mary Crow, who he later marries. He walks to Glastonbury, where he works for John Geard. A skeptic and cynic, he sees his work for Geard as a way of mocking the Grail-worship he is supposed to promote. Philip Crow, a cousin to John and an industrialist, who owns Wookey Hole Caves. He is widely hated by the citizens of the town for his attempt to industrialise it. He too hates the Grail legend, and seeks to unseat Geard. Tom Barter, a childhood friend of John Crow, from Norfolk. He initially works for Philip Crow but leaves to join John Geard. He is a somewhat depressed womaniser who carries a flame for Mary Crow but marries Tossie Stickles, after she becomes pregnant. Owen Evans, a Welshman, obsessed student of Welsh mythology, mystic, antiquarian, and a friend of John Crow. He has strong sadistic urges, and is tempted by an anonymous pornographic book. He is writing a book on Merlin, the magician of Arthurian legend. Mat Dekker, the town vicar. He is also wary of Geard's new religion and is also described as being an enemy of the anthropomorphised sun. Sam Dekker, the vicar's son. He carries an on-and-off affair with Nell Zoyland, wife of Will Zoyland, and goes through several spiritual conversions during the course of the novel. According to Morine Krissdóttir, "Sam is the virtuous Perceval of medieval myth; the Fisher King is this story Christ himself". Persephone Spear, wife of Communist leader Dave Spear and longtime mistress to Philip Crow. Mad Bet, (Bet Chinnock) a bald, witch-like madwoman who encourages Finn Toller to commit murder. She is identified with the Grail Messenger. Finn Toller (alias, Codfin), who accidentally kills Tom Barter when he attempts to murder John Crow. Edward Athling, a farmer-poet who creates the "libretto" for the Glastonbury Pageant. Red Robinson, a "cockney communist, who was always plotting troubles and strikes in Philip's factories. Red hates Philip Crow and plots, with fellow communist Dave Spear and philosophical anarchist Paul Trent, to establish a commune in Glastonbury, along the lines of the Paris Commune of 1871.David Goodway, Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow. Liverpool University Press, 2006, p. 161. Paul Trent, a solicitor from the Scilly Isles of Cornwall, who plans to set up an office in Glastonbury. He is a philosophical anarchist.

Publication history A Glastonbury Romance was first published by Simon & Schuster in New York in 1932 and in London by John Lane in 1933. Subsequently, cuts were made to the 3rd impression of the Lane edition, following a libel suit in 1934 by Captain Hodgkinson, the owner of Wookey Hole caves. along with an apology. There were two further impressions with the apology and cuts. When Macdonald reprinted the novel in 1955, further cuts were made, including the deletion of eight pages from the end of chapter 8: "Wookey Hole". Subsequent editions Picador 1975, Outlook Duckworth 1996, Penguin 1999, were photocopied from the 1955 edition.

Full details of the cuts are given Paul Cheshire's essay, "A Glastonbury Romance: Cuts and Alterations to the UK Printed Texts 1932-1955", The Powys Journal, vol. XXVII (2017), pp. 65-86. Earlier, Penny Smith discussed the cuts in "The 'Cave of the man-eating Mothers': its location in A Glastonbury Romance", The Powys Review, 9 (1981/82), pp. 10-37.

For an online copy of the 5th impression of the Lane edition from 1934, see #Further reading, below.

Lawsuit In 1934, Powys and his English publishers were successfully sued for libel by Gerard Hodgkinson, real-life owner of the Wookey Hole caves, who claimed that the character of Philip Crow had been based on him. The damages awarded crippled Powys financially, and he was forced to make substantial changes to the English edition of his next novel, which was initially published in America as Weymouth Sands (1934). The title of the English version was changed to Jobber Skald (1935) and all references to the real-life Weymouth were cut.

Introduction

It "was conceived on an uncompromisingly huge scale, with a cast of hundreds". In his preface to the 1955 edition Powys states the novel's "heroine is the Grail", however, in 1932 he described "Glastonbury herself" as "the hero of the story.John Cowper Powys, Glastonbury: 'Author's Review', 1932 ". The Powys Review, no. 9, vol. 3i, (1981–82), p. 8 Its central concern is with the various myths and legends along with history associated with Glastonbury. It is also possible to see most of the main characters, John Geard, Sam Dekker, John Crow, and Owen Evans as undertaking a Grail quest.