Finished

I have at last finished reading the biography of Penelope Fitzgerald by Hermione Lee. A book given to me last Christmas by my son-in-law, I was determined not to read it before I had read some of Fitzgerald’s novels. It was then by chance that Hermione Lee came to Keswick at the beginning of the year and I went to a talk given by her. This really inspired me to read the novels. I had one, which I must have bought, or had given, when it won the Booker Prize in 1979, so I started with rereading that and then carried on from there. I loved the novels and, having read them, made the biography more enjoyable.

I would recommend the biography if you like such books meticulously researched. There is a lot of detail, but Lee’s style of writing is very readable.

What an amazing person Penelope Fizgerald was. She suffered hardship and poverty and lived on a boat with her children for a while. She was first published at the age of sixty and became famous at eighty. I would definitely recommend any of her novels; they are short, beautifully written with an insight into human nature and a sense of humour:

The Bookshop
Offshore
The Blue Flower
The Beginning of Spring