Good Company: Diaries, 1967-70 - Hardcover

Partridge, Frances

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002552019 ISBN 13: 9780002552011

Publisher: HarperCollins, 1994

Synopsis

Frances Partridge is the oldest surviving member of the Bloomsbury Group. At the age of 93 she published "Other People" which chronicled her life between 1963 and 1966 when she was struggling to come to terms with the deaths of both her husband Ralph and her son Burgo. This sequel to that volume follows her life between the years 1967 and 1970. With the support of friends, who included Julia Strachey, Robert Kee, Raymond Mortimer, Rosamund Lehmann and Gerald Brenan, travelling and her unfailing interest in the world outside, Partridge comes to terms with existence after her twofold loss. She is endlessly observant of nature and people, and has an acerbic sense of humour, a refusal to indulge in self-pity and, perhaps above all, a passion for conversation.

About this title

From the Back Cover

“Mrs Partridge is the last survivor of the inner-core of the Bloomsbury group. Her diaries would be riveting reading even if the story of her personal life had not been so absorbing and dramatic, and even if she were not the gifted writer that she is. A fine translator, a great diarist, a prolific reviewer, who is a national treasure; and to her friends an affectionate companion and great conversationalist – the best company there is.”
PAUL LEVY, 'The Times'

“Frances Partridge’s diaries are quietly brilliant: alive to everything, she chronicles nearly a century’s experiences with sharp intelligence and tenderness. Her latest volume, 'Good Company', shares with us her extraordinary gift for observation, truth and friendship.”
JANE DUNN, 'Observer Books of the Year'

“As old as the century, the last and probably most admirable of the Bloomsbury circle, Frances Partridge’s latest volume of diaries is as ever marked by a Colette-like feeling for natural beauty and a zest for good company.”
JONATHAN CECIL, 'Evening Standard'

“Frances Partridge is wise, kind and of shining integrity. One of the pleasures of the Partridge diaries is to observe this serenely good woman moving through monsters, like Christian in 'The Pilgrim’s Progress'.”
BEVIS HILLIER, 'Spectator'

“It is the beadiness and inquisitiveness that Frances Partridge’s admirers anticipate with the appearance of each new instalment of diaries, and they will not be disappointed here. Frances Partridge’s diaries are records of friendships, and of the responsibilities involved in sustaining them. They are of perennial interest.”
PAUL BAILEY, 'Daily Telegraph'

About the Author

Frances Partridge was born in Bedford Square in 1900. Family friends included Henry James, Conan Doyle and various members of the Strachey family. She has translated many books and with her husband Ralph edited the Greville Memoirs.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0002552019
• ISBN 13: 9780002552011
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 300