I have always been a fan of P.D. James, I have several of her books. She was asked to write an
Autobiography which she did not especially want to do. She decided on her 77th birthday she
would keep a diary for one year. Now this is how to write a diary!! By doing this we learned
about her birth, school years, family and accomplishments and much more. In addition she included many photographs which were so appreciated. I would highly recommend this book.

This is a small jewel of a memoir. Set up int the form of a diary for one year, it allows the author to digress into her past using a current event in her life as a jumping-off place. The book is a marvel of construction, as her life seems to unfold in chronological order. Her book is terse but touching and full of dry British humor and some astute observations on life. I just loved it.

I really enjoy PD James' detective novels - both the Adam Dalgliesh and the Cordelia Grey series. I haven't read her stand-alone books, but will at some point, I'm sure.

This book was interesting - a combination one-year diary and memoir. The book doesn't flow together, but contains entries she made between August 1997 (when she turned 77) and August 1998. Although it is not a traditional memoir, it does talk about her life and her thoughts, as her obligations of the day remind her of things past. In addition, the book covers her thoughts about writing, novels, detective novels, religion, aging (and the associated loss of friends and loved ones) and even touches on a few policy/political issues as she prepares for speaking and other engagements.

It's an unusual way to tell her story, though sometimes it would be nice to have a little more cohesion in the mix. Also, this is more like a snapshot in time - would she say the same things now? Maybe not. I'm not sure I always agreed with her, but I enjoyed reading her thoughts. She is an interesting person and has written stories and created characters that have given me much joy over the years, so it was nice to learn more about her.

July 2015: not available on audio at Mechanics' Institute

Checked this one out of the Library, twice. I should buy a copy. Very readable story of PD James journey which led her to become a great mystery author after working over 30 years in a government job she never per really cared for.

Of course, I should like what she has to say, since I liked what her characters had to say.

"Every morning thought my school like I heard a reading from the King James Bible. There was, thank God, no Good News Bible, a version which is very bad news for anyone who cares for either religion or literature."

One quotation I would most like to see in any revised edition are the words of Henry James, writing of Anthony Trollope, "We trust novels to maintain us in the practice of great indignations and great generosities."

a novelist must be able to stand aside from this experience, view it with detachment, however painful, and fashion it into a satisfying shape. It is this ability to detach oneself from experience and at the same time portray it with honesty and controlled emotion which makes a novelist. Perhaps it is also this ability to assume the role of privileged spectator, the cold searching gaze, which caused Graham Greene to write that every writer has a splinter of ice in the heart.

I returned to find a call on the answerphone from granddaughter Beatrice. She is due here with her bridge partner, Rachel, and Rachel's boyfriend to play bridge in the English squad. Bea said that there were two more friends, whom she ironically described as clean-living boys, who had no bed for the night, so she has told them that they could turn up with their sleeping bags and sleep at my house. Last year there was only one clean-living lad. Next year, no doubt, there will be three or four clean-living boys trooping in with their sleeping bags. However, there is plenty of room and I like civilized, lively and intelligent young people, although I find this passion for bridge incomprehensible in anyone under forty.


PD James favorite author is Jane Austen. And she mentioned Trollope a lot. No wonder I like PD James so much.

I love PD James. Adore her writing. Would have thought she could rewrite the phone book and it would be great. But it must be a bad sign that I just can't get through this book. I keep putting it down to read something else. What is that about?

Subtitled, “A Fragment of Autobiography,” this book is the diary of her 78th year, from October 1997-October 1998. She discusses all kinds of things besides her daily activities, and she is a very busy woman who is also a member of the House of Lords. Her thoughts on her successful mystery stories and how she wrote them make me want to go back and re-read her books. She gave many talks and lectures to local groups in London, and traveled on a book publicity tour in the U.S. I thoroughly enjoyed this autobiography of an intellectual woman who writes mystery stories.

This is a most interesting book, especially for anyone who loves her books, as I do. The book is full of insights into her life, her thoughts, and the books she has written. The first half of the book was my favorite. The second half was a bit slow at times, but still wonderful. I loved the photos at the end as well. She was quite an amazing woman and writer!

I can't say I enjoyed this book. Some bits were quite interesting especially the stuff about the war. But on the whole I found it boring. A successful writer with a busy life but generally not very interesting

A year of diary entries from English mystery writer P.D. James. I enjoyed her uncombative Toryism of the 'I can't help but think more might have been lost than gained', and feel that this book has come down to us from a much more civilized time.

I don't know where PD James finds the energy. At 77 her average day consists of a long walk, a luncheon out, a shopping trip, a dinner at which she is the speaker, followed by time with friends and family. It is exhausting just reading about it. This book is well-written, and has many insights into her early life growing up between the wars in England.