Instead of a Letter

Her first and still most perfect perfect book -- Carole Angier * Literary Review *
The reader sees the transformation of the battered soul into a buoyant woman, open-minded and open-hearted -- Hilary Mantel * Spectator *
This classic memoir ... well deserves another airing * Daily Mail *
I first came across Diana Athill when I was 17. I picked up her memoir, Instead of a Letter, attracted to its title. I was driven on by avid inexperience, sure that I could find out from Athill what life itself was not yet ready to tell me about love, sex and - most impressively - heartbreak. I admired her elegant vigour and control of words in contrast to the freedom with which she wrote about herself. She became, in my reading life, a friend -- Kate Kellaway * Observer *
One certainly admires both her and this truly excellent book, which is a masterpiece of confessional literature * Tablet *
The documentary of one woman's ordinary and yet, in her telling, wholly extraordinary life -- Erica Wagner * The Times *
A model mix of clear-eyed analysis and deep, unashamed feeling * Sunday Times *