the reader of books

A very nice, short book recounting the childhood of well-known editor, Diana Athill. Athill describes a very idyllic, very Edwardian childhood and family history, but she is funny and disarmingly straightforward.

I knew she was my kind of lady when she described how her mother went for a sleep cure after a decidedly sad turn of events:

"Sleep cures were popular during the twenties: the patient was sedated so heavily for several days that she was oblivious of whatever was done to her in the way of nourishment and evacuation (it sounds delicious)."

I hope to read the rest of her memoirs!