The pleasures of a well-written book are often honed by a secret legion of editors, polishing and shaping both words and soul. Amongst editors, Diana Athill enjoyed a near-legendary status, enabling talents such as John Updike, Jean Rhys and V.S. Naipaul to reach extraordinary literary heights. Synonymous with publisher André Deutsch, Athill underpinned a writing revolution.
All this, however, was in parallel with a flourishing genius of her own. 1962’s Instead of a Letter was a bold, unusual, and incredibly cathartic memoir of love and loss; several decades later, Athill released a string of unforgettable life accounts, including tales of her craft in 2000’s Stet and the astonishing clarity of 2015's Alive, Alive Oh!, a clear-eyed survey of age and meaning: few have written about life’s passage with such searing honesty and inordinate, thoughtful intelligence. 2009’s Life Class stands as the essential collection.
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