"Instead of a Letter"

On 3/15/10, I wrote about the wonderful famed English editor and memoirist Diana Athill, now 92 and still writing. In that post I praised her three most recent memoirs. I have now gone back in time to read one of her earlier memoirs, "Instead of a Letter," which has just appeared in a U.S. paperback (originally Doubleday, 1962; paperback W. W. Norton, 2010). In this book, she writes a bit about her childhood (later covered in more detail in another memoir), but mainly about her life from her teens to her early forties. The most critical series of events for her was her long courtship by, and eventual engagement to, Paul, who then went off to war (WW II), stopped writing her, and after two years informed her of his engagement to another woman. He subsequently died in the war. These events left her devastated and stripped of her self-confidence and ability to relate to others, especially romantically, for almost twenty years. What eventually brought her out of this state was love, interesting work, and -- most of all -- her writing and the fulfillment it provided her. Ironically, during her difficult years, she dreaded old age, but now at 92 she has had a long, productive, and happy life that she is still -- according to recently published interviews -- thoroughly savoring. Athill writes with scrupulous openness about her own feelings and shortcomings. She also writes beautifully and descriptively about her life and her surroundings. Highly recommended.