Reviews
"A triumph. . . . Any admirer of Penelope Fitzgerald's work--or, for that matter, any passionate reader--will enjoy this capacious, masterly biography." -- The Washington Post "Excellent. . . . Riveting. . . . Will send you racing back to read the subject's works." -- The New York Times "[A] superbly intelligent biography. . . . Remarkable. . . . A revelation." -- The New Yorker "A championing critical biography. . . . Richly illuminating. . . . It is, very movingly, a picture of a whole past life . . . with a reverence for her subject that is felt on every page." -- The New York Review of Books "Rarely has a literary biography been more needed or necessary than in Fitzgerald's case. . . . She was a writer of genius. . . . [Lee's] research is meticulous. . . . Her conclusion is a statement of biographical honesty." -- The Wall Street Journal "The life and times of that elusive, original miracle worker, the English novelist and biographer Penelope Fitzgerald, have been brilliantly captured by Lee. . . . [Fitzgerald's] fiction, when it finally emerged, had a tamped-down force and intense compression, as if the decades-long wait had worked its own clarifying, crystallizing magic." -- The New York Times Book Review "[A] sumptuous biography. . . . Thrilling. . . . Pithy. . . . Pleasingly impressionistic." -- Slate "A captivating read about a woman who lived most of her life on the sidelines. . . . With great respect, and an innate sense of the underappreciated, Lee shines a brilliant light on Fitzgerald's long life of making do, and making art in the process." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "Brilliant . . . Lee catches not only the tempo of each decade, but how values from Fitzgerald's past constantly inform her present." -- Financial Times "Hermione Lee's sensitive, respectful biography traces the life of a woman as elusive and enigmatic as her fiction. . . . Moving. . . . Mak[es] palpable the weight of experience Fitzgerald transmuted into fiction of such remarkable grace and deceptive ease." -- Newsday "Gloriously illuminates the separate talents of two distinguished ladies of letters." -- The Economist "Marvelous. . . . Brilliant. . . . Master biographer Hermione Lee illuminates the life of Fitzgerald." -- The Seattle Times "Literary biography at its best--a masterly discussion of the work of that fine novelist." --Penelope Lively "Deliriously entertaining. . . . Beautifully evoked. . . . [Lee's] intense, close-up analyses of each book would have thrilled Fitzgerald." -- The Sunday Times (London) "The biography of the year, an extraordinary portrait of an English literary life." --Robert McCrum, The Observer (London) "Richly satisfying . . . It will send you back to the subject's own piquant and elusive novels." --Hilary Mantel "Excellent . . . Lee was a perfect choice as Fitzgerald's biographer. She has done a superb job, capturing an elusive personality and a complex, sometimes rather harrowing story." -- The Guardian (London) "A luminous masterpiece of life-writing . . . Lee's magisterial work is inseparable from warmth, intimacy, humaneness, and love for the subject of her biography." -- New Statesman "This book will hold insights and treats for any admirer of her fiction, and recruit converts to this reticent, witty, ferocious champion of the utterly downtrodden." -- The Independent on Sunday, "A triumph. . . . Any admirer of Penelope Fitzgerald's work--or, for that matter, any passionate reader--will enjoy this capacious, masterly biography." -- The Washington Post "Excellent. . . . Riveting. . . . Will send you racing back to read the subject's works." -- The New York Times "[A] superbly intelligent biography. . . . Remarkable. . . . A revelation." -- The New Yorker "A championing critical biography. . . . Richly illuminating. . . . It is, very movingly, a picture of a whole past life . . . with a reverence for her subject that is felt on every page." -- The New York Review of Books "Rarely has a literary biography been more needed or necessary than in Fitzgerald's case. . . . She was a writer of genius. . . . [Lee's] research is meticulous. . . . Her conclusion is a statement of biographical honesty." -- The Wall Street Journal "The life and times of that elusive, original miracle worker, the English novelist and biographer Penelope Fitzgerald, have been brilliantly captured by Lee. . . . [Fitzgerald's] fiction, when it finally emerged, had a tamped-down force and intense compression, as if the decades-long wait had worked its own clarifying, crystallizing magic." -- The New York Times Book Review "[A] sumptuous biography. . . . Thrilling. . . . Pithy. . . . Pleasingly impressionistic." -- Slate "A captivating read about a woman who lived most of her life on the sidelines. . . . With great respect, and an innate sense of the underappreciated, Lee shines a brilliant light on Fitzgerald's long life of making do, and making art in the process." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune "Brilliant . . . Lee catches not only the tempo of each decade, but how values from Fitzgerald's past constantly inform her present." -- Financial Times "Hermione Lee's sensitive, respectful biography traces the life of a woman as elusive and enigmatic as her fiction. . . . Moving. . . . Mak[es] palpable the weight of experience Fitzgerald transmuted into fiction of such remarkable grace and deceptive ease." -- Newsday "Gloriously illuminates the separate talents of two distinguished ladies of letters." -- The Economist "Marvelous. . . . Brilliant. . . . Master biographer Hermione Lee illuminates the life of Fitzgerald." -- The Seattle Times "Literary biography at its best--a masterly discussion of the work of that fine novelist." --Penelope Lively "Deliriously entertaining. . . . Beautifully evoked. . . . [Lee's] intense, close-up analyses of each book would have thrilled Fitzgerald." -- The Sunday Times (London) "The biography of the year, an extraordinary portrait of an English literary life." --Robert McCrum, The Observer (London) "Richly satisfying . . . It will send you back to the subject's own piquant and elusive novels." --Hilary Mantel "Excellent . . . Lee was a perfect choice as Fitzgerald's biographer. She has done a superb job, capturing an elusive personality and a complex, sometimes rather harrowing story." -- The Guardian (London) "A luminous masterpiece of life-writing . . . Lee's magisterial work is inseparable from warmth, intimacy, humaneness, and love for the subject of her biography." -- New Statesman "This book will hold insights and treats for any admirer of her fiction, and recruit converts to this reticent, witty, ferocious champion of the utterly downtrodden." -- The Independent on Sunday
