I’m glad the maple tree is out, but horrified at the arrival of the Canada geese. They’ve given up hibernating – the ones that live over here, anyway – and stay right through the winter, multiplying at an alarming rate
with best wishes
Penelope
27a Bishop’s Road
Highgate
London, N6
29 March 2000*
Dear Chris,
Thankyou so much for your letter and the further notes and queries. I’ve never had such a careful editor, not even in the long-ago days when there were ‘printers’ readers’.
You’ve been most successful in tracing these various clerics, though they may all drop dead while your back is turned, and that’s also true of practically every one in the foreword. Do you think it’s enough to put 15 March 2000 at the end? I expect you’ve come across this problem quite often. Really it would be better not to thank anyone, but they did go to so much trouble.
And so have you! ‘patient to a fault’ is just about right, but at least Dilly’s birth-date is right now. His own son, my cousin, Oliver, didn’t know it. In fact, I’m not sure Dilly knew it himself, because I’m certain he said the lunch at the Spread-Eagle was for his 50th birthday, but he was wrong.
I’m supposed to be going away from April 25th to 29th – Ria says I must go because she must have my walls repainted. I’d hoped they might last me out, but she says not –
love and best wishes
Penelope
The Kitchen Drawer Poem
The nutcracker, the skewer, the knife, are doomed to share this drawer for life.
You cannot pierce, the skewer says, or cause the pain of in one place.
You cannot grind, you do not know, says nutcracker, the pain of slow.
You don’t know what it is to slice, to both of them the knife replies,
with pain so fine it is not pain to part what cannot join again.
The skewer, nutcracker, and knife are well adapted to their life.
They calculate efficiency by what the others cannot be
and power by the pain they cause and that is life in kitchen drawers.
The Father and the Mother
Here are two individuals who
have reproduced their kind
and each of them possesses both
a body and a mind.
They sit upon two separate chairs
they sit between four walls
and it was a mistake to call
them individuals.
Index
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Acocella Joan 338, 516
Adams Frederick 488
Amory Mark 466, 473
Anderson Lindsay 72
Arts Council 85, 228, 392, 397, 399–400
Aubrey Mme. 35–36
Austen Jane 263, 467
BBC 20–22, 63,77, 80, 238, 277, 280, 300–1, 327, 377–8, 380, 405, 409, 440–1, 472
Bainbridge Beryl 373, 382, 388, 413, 424
Barker A.L. (Pat) 424, 438–41
Barnes Julian 469
Barnett Elizabeth (god-daughter) 101, 111, 209–222
Barr Alyson 29–31, 456–8
Batey Mavis 247, 250–3, 413
Bedford Sybille 376, 383, 394, 424, 468
Beerbohm Max 475
Bennett Alan 293
Bennett Mary 294, 302, 307, 318, 321, 418
Beowulf 461–3
Bertrand Général 159
Biography (as genre) 161, 201, 205, 245, 263–4, 271, 301, 313, 319, 353, 372, 397, 443–4
Birch Frank 233, 252
Blake William 354
Bloomfield Paul 72, 257, 272, 276
Bloomsbury 24, 26–7, 30, 340, 346
Blue Flowers 190, 363,453, 502, 504
Booker Prize 76, 196, 200, 202, 274, 280, 317, 358, 418, 423, 428, 441
Borges 475
Bown Jane 421
Boy Reading (Watteau) 74, 433, 480
Bradbury Malcolm 424, 427
Breakwell Mrs. 5–6, 12–13, 15–18, 19, 21, 24
Breakwell Oliver 5, 6, 8, 11–13, 17–19
Briggs Asa 377–8
British Academy 402
British Council 430
British Library 107, 151, 284, 291, 411, 461
Brookner Anita 421
Burne Jones 68, 73, 81, 110–11, 132, 181, 201, 240, 295, 296–9, 309, 311, 320, 327, 446–8, 466
Callil Carmen 393, 398, 404
Canaletto 421
Capitalism 360
Carduff Chris 193, 367, 434, 485, 487–520
Carr J.L. 439, 465–7, 484
Caulfield Patrick 134, 389
Cecil Lord David 125–6, 256, 263, 265, 267–8, 276, 281, 349, 401
Chamot Mary 48, 11, 122, 126
Chandler Raymond 354, 356
Charleston 25–6, 31–2, 342
Chaucer Geoffrey 356, 465
Chesney Graham 437
Christian John 81, 136, 294, 297, 299
Clapham Antiquarian Society 122, 127, 140
Cockerell Sydney 398, 400
Coleridge 43–4, 413, 479, 504
Coles Dorothy 459–63
Collins 260, 303, 310, 315, 342, 358, 370–436, 480–6
Commonwealth Fiction Prize (judge) 79
Conder Maryllis (Willie) 42, 44–6, 72, 82, 95, 142–4, 155, 174–208
Counterpoint 458, 514–5
Cowper William 465
de Baissac Marielle 49–50, 110, 117, 155, 158, 166
de Morgan William 205, 453, 502
Dickinson Patric 244–5, 398, 488
Doyle Roddy 414, 418
Drabble Margaret 308, 328, 488
Eliot T.S. 58, 244, 334
English Speaking Union 512
Enigma 159, 233, 237 239, 247, 375, 518
Farjeon Eleanor 339
Fisher James 501
Fisher Jean (Lady Talbot) 7, 15, 19, 21, 23, 82, 160, 175, 186, 193, 377
Fitzgerald Desmond (husband) 33–173 multiple references (Daddy), 174–5, 224, 283, 308, 368, 482, 518
Fitzgerald Penelope
WORKS:
Edward Burne-Jones 117, 144, 203, 234, 295–6, 409, 417, 447, 518, 494–5 (see also Burne Jones)
The Knox Brothers 3,149–50, 154, 166, 168, 176, 233–249, 263, 353, 370, 457, 510–20 (see also Knoxes)
The Golden Child 240, 319, 375, 430, 481
The Bookshop 203, 255–62, 273–4, 371, 375, 433, 480, 485, 501–5
Offshore 179, 370–5, 377, 380, 386, 506
Human Voices 327, 376–82, 429, 434 (see also BBC)
At Freddie’s 340, 388–92, 432
Charlotte Mew and Her Friends 337–8, 341, 349, 395–400, 402, 433, 467, 472, 486–96 (see also Mew Charlotte)
Innocence 342, 434, 377, 380, 386, 507
The Beginning of Spring 350, 425, 429, 442, 445, 450, 494, 507
The Gate of Angels 357, 410, 420–2, 424–6, 428, 433, 437, 455, 466, 477, 506
The Blue Flower 192, 203, 322–3, 366, 417, 453, 475, 479, 480–2, 499–504, 507
The Means of Escape 482–5, 515–16, (’The Axe’) 168, (’At Hiruharama’) 430–1
The Kitchen Drawer Poem 63
DAYS:
accident-prone 73, 107, 110, 113, 128, 131, 145, 165, 225, 206, 396
biography 161, 201, 205, 245, 263–4, 271, 301, 313, 319, 353, 372, 397, 443–4
childhood 36, 186–7, 199, 330–1, 368, 517
clothes 66–7, 108, 157
committees and judging (see general index)
country(-side) 10, 16–17, 22, 148–9, 214, 305, 335,400, 402–3
faith 64, 68, 80, 99, 104, 126, 134–5, 154, 204, 242, 270, 313, 353, 368, 391, 426, 431, 438, 455, 518
family (see Knoxes)
food (plain) 13, 32, 57, 75, 87, 124, 134, 150, 194, 197, 20
4, 245, 423, 459, 503, 511
Georgians 26
handwriting 1, 205, 431
heartfelt or characteristic 8, 31, 55, 122–3, 127, 202, 259–60, 268, 270, 282, 289, 301, 327, 323, 325, 338, 372–4, 378–9, 382, 384, 388, 391, 397, 422, 429, 447, 453, 463, 473, 481, 490, 492, 499, 508–9, 513, 518
husband (Desmond Fitzgerald) 33–173,
multiple references (Daddy) 174–5, 224, 283, 308, 368, 482, 518
indexing 169
letters 1, 18, 3, 19, 364
literature 58, 61
London 343, 385
money (lack of) 55, 77, 130, 132, 141, 146, 164, 170, 349, 360, 373, (fairy gold) 268, 324, 483
as mother 53, 58, 66, 74, 76, 82, 106, 108, 115–6, 122–3, 141, 146, 155, 166, 178, 202, 223, 404–5
neighbours (trouble with) 114, 121, 130, 132, 154
old age 88, 148, 183, 192, 199–201, 206, 216, 415, 515
Oxford 20, 65, 94, 116, 250, 258, 294
papers (manuscripts etc.) 3, 350, 363, 409, 433
photographs of 1, 16, 24, 160, 162, 192, 377, 421, 505, 519
politics 71, 126, 143, 324, 360, 497
publishing 179, 235, 282, 399, 404–5, 424–5, 429, 476, 480
reviewing 408, 461
studies 37, 50, 68
teaching 60–1, 105–6, 111, 137, 141, 147, 149, 165, 167, 171–2, 209, 235, 241, 273, 385, 436, 453
war 4–6, 9–23
widowhood 23, 174–5, 192
writing 23, 30, 61, 117, 197, 255, 310, 374, 378, 382–3, 389, 391, 436, 441–2, 447, 453, 467, 474
Flamingo 404, 427, 481, 486, 501
Flint F.S. 334, 337–8 (see also Poetry Bookshop)
Forster E.M. 269, 273, 301, 305–8, 312, 314, 320, 327
Forward Prize (judge) 289
Freud 22
Frost Robert 244, 492
Ghosts 480
Gittings Robert 380, 398, 490
Goff Martyn 381
Golden Pen 93, 204
Grace (houseboat) 111, 142, 384, 506
Hamlets 355
Hartley L.P. (Leslie) 255–7, 260, 263–84, (projected life of) 349, 370–1, 396, 401, 472
Hartley Norah 256, 260, 263–6, 472
Hastings Selina 200
Haycraft Colin 255–62, 271–2, 277–8, 375, 396, 413, 430
Heine 378
Heinemann Prize (judge) 514–5
Heinemann Tara 226
Heywood Hill award 324, 468
Hichens Rachel 100, 209–22, 384
Hill Geoffrey 515
Hinde Thomas 378
Hockney David 389
Hoffman Michael 366
Holmes Richard 367, 413, 421, 435, 479
Holroyd Michael 26, 31, 234, 321, 328, 398, 400–1, 423, 472–4, 488
Holt Henry 420, 490
Holtby Prize (judge) 473
Holy Land the 431, 502
Hope Christopher 432
Hopkins Gerard Manley 326, 427–8, 463
Houghton Mifflin 367, 485–6, 326, 501–2, 510
Housman A. E. 202, 289, 345, 406
Hughes Ted 63
Hurd Douglas 441
Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (judge) 417, 480
Ishiguro Kazuo 317
James Henry 150, 263, 266, 371, 503
James M.R. (Monty) 421, 424, 435, 455, 479
Jesuits 420
Jewett Sarah Orne 508
Kelvin Norman 296, 309, 313, 360
Kermode Sir Frank 374, 382, 415, 452–3
Keynes Maynard 25, 29, 236, 238, 353, 437–8
King Francis 26, 79, 255, 263–92, 439–41
Kipling Rudyard (Kim) 320
Knox (Shepard) Mary (step-mother) 48, 70, 72, 78, 81, 86, 97, 107, 109, 118, 127, 130, 133, 135, 137–8, 140–1, 147, 154–5, 159, 176, 184, 201, 203, 210, 223–9, 303
Knox Bishop (grandfather) 10, 466, 516
Knox Dillwyn (uncle) 25, 149–50, 251–3, 353–4, 413, 437
Knox Edmund Valpy (father) 51, 62, 97, 101, 109, 141, 155, (as Grandpa) 187, 223–9, 251, 381, 475, 490, 511, 517–9
Knox Helen (sister-in-law) 230 (see also Rawle Knox)
Knox Oliver (cousin) 147, 158, 251, 415–6
Knox Rawle (brother) 10, 18–19, 21–2, 63, 84, 101, 146, 148, 155, 186, 215, 226, 230, 319
Knox Ronnie (uncle) 238, 249, 381, 384, 457, 510–11, 517–18
Knox Wilfred (uncle) 154, 257, 272, 391
Krementz Jill 505
Lago Mary 294–329
Larkin Philip 75, 499
Lawrence D.H. 348, 453
Lee Hermione 80
Lee Hugh (Ham) 3–32, 342, 353, 456
Lessing Doris 343
Levy Paul 234–6, 248
Llewellyn Rees Prize (judge) 28, 424
London 343, 385
London Review of Books 90, 382, 391, 452–3, 482
Lowestoft (nickname) 4–8
Lubow Arthur 328
Mackail John W. 460–1
Macmillan 233–48
Macmillan Harold 249
Manguel Alberto 475–6
Mantegna 167, 300, 429
Mantel Hilary 454
Masefield John 18
Maugham Somerset 353–4
McGough Roger 63
Mew Charlotte 200, 244, 286, 304, 310, 347, 365, 380, 393, 395, 400, 409, 462, 467, 486–96
Mexico 365
Michael Joseph 166, 370
Mills Magnus 509
Ministry of Food 10, 12, 15, 18, 20
Monro Harold and Alida 243–4, 330–69, 397 (see also Poetry Bookshop)
Moore Brian 471
Morris William 162, 297, 309, 313–14, 342, 349, 356, 360, 382, 385, 444, 453, 459–63, 502
Moscow 156, 442, 445–6
Muggeridge Malcolm 150, 240, 254, 371, 384
Munch Edvard 359
Myers Leo (L.H.) 305, 396
New Criterion (The) 496, 498, 510, 519
Newman Cardinal 65, 393
Nichols Bridget 455
Novalis 322, 366, 451, 453, 475–6
Nuryev 165
Oliphant Mrs. 313, 315
Olivier Laurence 117
Ollard Richard 370–419
Orton Joe 50
Papers (manuscripts etc.) 3, 350, 363, 409, 433
PEN 46, 85, 265, 268, 285, 343, 381, 394, 396, 441
Pinter Harold 50
Poetry (Readings) 63, 459–63
Poetry Bookshop The (projected biography of) 243–7, 296, 330–69, 378, 381 (see also Monro)
Politics 71, 126, 143, 324, 360, 497
Powell Anthony 276
Probert Janet 7, 19, 21, 23, 29–30
Proffitt Stuart 199, 403, 407, 411–13, 416, 420–35
Publishing 179, 235, 282, 399, 404–5, 424–5, 429, 476, 480
Punch 4–8, 497–8, 510, 519–20
Pym Barbara 180, 307, 388
Quigley Isabel 85, 427, 474
Ratcliffe Michael 307, 424
Richard Cliff 35, 56
Rosemary Crawshay Prize 402
Rossetti Christina 49
Rota Bertram 277, 336, 344, 347
Royal Society of Literature 194, 200, 424, 473–4
Rushdie Salman 93, 407
Ruskin 56, 305–6, 313, 426
Saunders James 436
Segovia 424
Sendak Maurice 503
Shakespeare 44, 63, 238, 278–9, 423, 447, 517
Shepard Ernest 79, 176, 243 (Mary Knox’s father)
Sinclair May 286
Somerset 12, 301, 305
Spark Muriel 366, 501
Spencer Stanley 358, 424, 456
Spurling Hilary 308
St Deiniol’s Library, Hawarden 64–8, 96–8, 112, 148–9
Strachey Lytton 30, 234
Surtees Virginia 73, 290
Tasmania (Hobart Festival) 183, 360
Terry Ellen 447
Texas 261, 278–9, 316, 365, 409
TLS 240, 246, 257, 260, 273, 371, 382, 394, 440, 483
Tolstoy 34, 220, 420
Tomalin Claire 253, 449
Toronto (Olympian Writers Week) 315
Translation 477–8, 481–2
Trevelyan Raleigh 270, 287, 370, 394, 440
Truss Lynne 424
U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award 198, 508
Vickers Salley 485
Vidler Alec 150, 242
Vigne Randolph 38
Warner Marina 80, 87
Warner Val 257, 273, 397
Watkinson Ray 314, 364, 457, 462–3
Waugh Evelyn 237, 381, 457–8
Webb Philip 188, 481
Wedgwood Veronica 371–2
What Katy Did 317
Whitbread Prize (judge) 421, 424
Wickham Anna 330, 335, 337, 339, 346, 348 (see also Poetry Bookshop)
Wilde Oscar 447
William Morris Society 31, 145, 162, 297, 309, 313–14, 319, 356, 360, 456–7, 459–63
Wilson A.N. 419
Wittgenstein 28
Wogan Terry 407
Woolf Virginia 75, 128, 304, 342
Woolmer J. Howard 330–69, 425, 432
Wordsworth 43, 306, 332, 341
Wordsworth Dorothy 43–4, 188
Wordsworth Elizabeth 119
Wren P.C. 9
Writing 23, 30, 61, 117, 197, 255, 310, 374, 378, 382–3, 389, 391, 436, 441–2, 447, 453, 467, 474
Yeats John Butler 369
Acknowledgements
My grateful thanks are due to all those who kept their letters from Penelope so carefully, and so kindly contributed them to this book: to Hugh and Penny Lee, Maryllis and Anne Conder, Elizabeth Barnett, Chris Carduff, Howard Woolmer, Mavis Batey, Helen Knox, Harvey Pitcher, Michael Holroyd, Alberto Manguel, Stuart Proffitt, Alyson Barr, Dorothy Coles, Richard Holmes, Heulwen Cox (for J.L.Carr), Bridget Nichols, Masolino d’Amico, Graham Chesney, Maria and Tina.