{"product_id":"penelope-fitzgerald-a-life-9780099546597","title":"Penelope Fitzgerald A Life","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the James Tait Black Prize for Biography 2014\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review's \u003c\/i\u003e10 Best Books of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePenelope Fitzgerald (19162000) was a great English writer, who would never have described herself in such grand terms. Her novels were short, spare masterpieces, self-concealing, oblique and subtle. She won the Booker Prize for her novel \u003ci\u003eOffshore \u003c\/i\u003ein 1979, and her last work, \u003ci\u003eThe Blue Flower\u003c\/i\u003e, was acclaimed as a work of genius. The early novels drew on her own experiences  a boat on the Thames in the 1960s; the BBC in war time; a failing bookshop in Suffolk; an eccentric stage-school. The later ones opened out to encompass historical worlds which, magically, she seemed to possess entirely: Russia before the Revolution; post-war Italy; Germany in the time of the Romantic writer Novalis. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFitzgerald's life is as various and as cryptic as her fiction. It spans most of the\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eExcellent\u003c\/b\u003e... [Hermione] \u003cb\u003eLee is a perfect choice as Fitzgerald's biographer. She has done a superb job\u003c\/b\u003e, capturing an elusive personality and a complex, sometimes rather harrowing story. -- Philip Hensher * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLee elucidates the depth of [Fitzgerald's] achievement\u003c\/b\u003e, and ties it enthrallingly to a life and  personality more complex and difficult than anyone imagined. In a\u003cb\u003e perfect literary biography\u003c\/b\u003e, Lee plumbs the creative mind beneath that persona, \u003cb\u003etracing the metamorphosis of messy experience into crystalline art.\u003c\/b\u003e * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrilliant and passionate\u003c\/b\u003e...a haunting tale of blighted hope, personal tragedy and rare, late fulfilment. \u003cb\u003eThanks to this sympathetic biography, [Fitzgerald's] afterlife shows signs of becoming finally blessed with understanding, admiration and respect\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Robert McCrum * Observer *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdmirable and perceptive\u003c\/b\u003e... Hermione Lee non-judgmentally excavates this extraordinary life. \u003cb\u003eHer biography is very good indeed\u003c\/b\u003e -- Susan Hill * The Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA worthy monument to one of the finest English novelists of the second half of the 20th century\u003c\/b\u003e -- Jonathan Derbyshire * Prospect *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdroitly executed and meticulously researched\u003c\/b\u003e... \u003cb\u003einsightful\u003c\/b\u003e... Ms Lee's shrewd examination makes this a \u003cb\u003eriveting\u003c\/b\u003e biography * Economist *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLee's absorbing biography is the story of a late starter\u003c\/b\u003e... [She] is partisan in her project: \u003cb\u003eshe means to expose a truth she is certain of -- that Fitzgerald is \"a great English writer\". Her feat is to have woven an involving narrative out of such a skeletal life\u003c\/b\u003e....Excellent.... -- Nicholas Shakespeare * Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis book will hold insights and treats for any admirer of [Fitzgerald's] fiction, and recruit converts to this reticent, witty, ferocious champion of the utterly downtrodden\u003c\/b\u003e. -- Emma Townshend * Independent *\u003cbr\u003eHer book is in \u003cb\u003ethe very best tradition of critical literary biography\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cb\u003e Phenomenally well researched and elegantly written, with a fine, dynamic fluency and lucid understanding, this is a very good biography indeed.\u003c\/b\u003e * The Tablet *\u003cbr\u003eThis elegant, richly researched biography tells a tale of misfortunes borne with dignity, humour and courage, and finally of quiet triumphs -- Michèle Roberts * i *\u003cbr\u003eThe literary biography of the year -- Philip Hensher * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eA perfect match of author and subject -- Leo Robson * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eLee’s book has had more influence on my reading than anything else this year -- John Lanchester * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eA compelling account of the life and work of Penelope Fitzgerald -- Mark Lawson * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eA masterly discussion of the work of that fine novelist and an illuminating account of the life of a complex and elusive person -- Penelope Lively * Guardian *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vintage Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48732286222679,"sku":"9780099546597","price":13.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/penelope-fitzgerald-a-life-9780099546597","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}