Sketches from a Life by Anne Scott-James lands on the shelves of my shop, where it will be found in my Biography section.
London: Michael Joseph, 1993, (First Edition) Hardback in dust wrapper.
Contains: Black & white photographs; Black & white drawings;
From the cover: Anne Scott-James, journalist and gardening writer, was one of the first generation of career girls, rising to become a magazine editor at thirty and later a famous and controversial columnist. She has written her autobiography in the form of letters to her daughter, Glare, a series of memorable sketches of her life and times.
She vividly evokes the period charm of her childhood; growing up in the twenties in town and country; and Oxford disillusioning, but salvaged by music, tennis and Greek. At a time when a professional woman was something of an oddity, she became one of the first female journalists in Fleet Street, joining Vogue in the 1930s and a rewarding experience working for Picture Post during the war.
After marriage (to writer Macdonald Hastings) and children (her son is journalist Max Hastings, Glare works in television), she was Editor of Harpers Bazaar and had columns on the Sunday Express and Daily Mail. This exhilarating career took her worldwide and involved her with such personalities as Bert Hardy, Lesley Blanch, Cecil Beaton, John Betjeman, Nancy Mitford and Rosamond Lehmann. She writes, too, of her marriage to Osbert Lancaster in 1967, of their travels in Europe together and their mutual love of architecture and gardening. Soon afterwards she began to write her well-loved gardening books.
Anne Scott-James recalls with wit and insight a wealth of stimulating experiences, people and places; her rich interests; and the adventures of a career that she adored a life that, with characteristic modesty, she says has never been boring. Elegant and beautifully written, Sketches From a Life is as engaging and charming as all who have read Anne Scott-Jamess columns and books will expect.
Very Good in Very Good Dust Wrapper. Gently bruised at the head of the spine and the top corners of the boards with commensurate wear to the dust wrapper.
Brown boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 198 pages. Index. 8¾” x 5¾”.
BookLovers of Bath 