Santa may not welcome this hefty four-books-in-one-volume on your wish-list, but that’s what he is paid for. And he will be spreading the joy. Diana Athill is quite simply one of our most captivating and truth-seeking memoir writers, and this collection spans most of her 92 years: her playful childhood recollections, Yesterday Morning; Athill’s deeply sad love affair years, Instead of a Letter; her career as a hugely influential books editor, Stet; and her blisteringly wise and straightforward thoughts on getting older and more savvy, Somewhere Towards The End: ‘Regrets. I say to myself. What regrets?’

Synopsis

Diana Athill, born in 1917, made her reputation as a writer with the candour of her memoirs; through her commitment, in her words, 'to understand, to be aware, to touch the truth'. In a celebration of her life and writing, My Lives brings together four of her best-loved memoirs in one volume, spanning her very English childhood, her life and loves during World War II, her publishing career at Andre Deutsch, and her reflections on old age. Introduced by Ian Jack, Diana Athill's selected memoirs are a remarkable testament to an unusual and fully lived life.

Reviews

About the Author

Diana Athill’s books include Yesterday Morning and Stet: An Editor’s Life. For fifty years she was the editorial director of André Deutsch, where she worked with such authors as Jean Rhys, Gitta Sereny and V. S. Naipaul. Her memoir, Somewhere Towards the End, was published by Granta Books in January 2008. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation