Instead of a Book

Fascinating and surprising ... Athill is a wonderful letter writer - always aware of the need to entertain and beguile the reader ... Every page of this book shows that Athill's eye is as beady as ever -- Daisy Goodwin * Sunday Times *
Encounter again, the sheer joy of her brisk, wry and hugely energetic prose -- Christina Patterson * Independent *
These are vivid reports on life in late 20th-century Britain as experienced by a writer, editor, daughter, partner and pensioner with an extraordinarily "beady eye" on human relations and a phenomenal capacity for making the most of everything that comes her way ... She owes us nothing. She has given a very great deal -- Alexandra Harris * Guardian *
She documents her dotage with affecting candour ... Athill is never remotely maudlin or self-pitying, and she describes beautifully those "lovely moments of pure being" that make it all worthwhile -- David Evans * Financial Times *
A joy to read ... Grand, splendid and wonderfully entertaining, Athill makes you hope that letter-writing is not a lost art -- Tina Jackson * Metro *
Athill is wonderful - always aware of the need to entertain and beguile her reader ... Fascinating and surprising -- Daisy Goodwin * Sunday Times *
A superb description of a woman growing older without losing her sense of humour or enthusiasm for life * Daily Telegraph *
Spirited sketches of OAP life... tackles the big questions through the small increments -- Alexandra Harris * Guardian *
A revealing document... There's a disarming honesty in the detail of [her] daily struggles with domesticity and mortality * Big Issue in the North *
The keenly intelligent letters between Athill and her friend, the American poet Edward Field, provide an intimate insight into the relationship between the two writers * Good Homes *