Instead of a Letter by Diana Athill

Instead of a Letter by Diana Athill

When Diana Athill, nearly forty-three and far from a household name, sat down to write Instead of a Letter, the first in her series of trailblazing memoirs, she was looking for an answer to the question What have I lived for? In this searching book, she recalls her child-hood on her grandparents' magnificent estate, the teenage romance that was certain to lead to marriage, her university days coinciding with the Second World War, and the sudden dissolution of her engagement, a loss that became the defining experience of the next twenty years of her life. Athill is as forthright in confessing her faults as she is in celebrating her triumphs. From this table, with this white tea-cup, full ashtray, and small glass half full of rum beside me, she writes, I see my story, ordinary enough though it has all been and sad though much of it was, as a success story.

In 1917, DIANA ATHILL was born. Athill's celebrated career as an editor is chronicled in her famous book Stet, as well as five volumes of memoirs, Instead of a Letter, After a Death, Yesterday Morning, Make Believe, Somewhere Towards the Finish, and a novel, Don't Look at Me Like That, all published by Granta Books. She was awarded an OBE in January 2009 after winning the Costa Biography Award for Somewhere Towards the Finish. She is based in London.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781681376134
ISBN 10	168137613X
Title	Instead of a Letter
Author	Diana Athill
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	The New York Review of Books, Inc
Year published	2023-08-15
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.