3 SEPTEMBER 1977, Page 14

No gentleman

Sir.: In her review (27 August) of The Getting of Wisdom, Celia Haddon writes of its author, Henry Handel Richardson, that 'he keeps a gentlemanly distance between himself and his heroine.'

In fact, Henry Handel Richardson was no more of a 'gentleman' than George Sand or George Eliot. She was born Henrietta Richardson, spent her early years in Australia, and subsequently, on her marriage to Professor J.G. Robertson, settled in England. She died in 1946. The Getting of Wisdom is an autobiographical novel. Francis King 9 Gordon Place, London W8