Rosemary Sutcliif wrote several re-tellings of Celtic and British legends, and other books, including her autobiography Blue Remembered Hills which were published originally by Bodley Head. Here, she records them in her blue notebook.
April 27th Wednesday. Chris for lunch, which was nice. Put on my new skirt and blouse in his honour and felt good. Geraldine and Aileen for tea.
© Anthony Lawton 2012
April 26th Tuesday. Muriel for the afternoon while Joan in Worthing.
© Anthony Lawton 2012
Do you want to hear what Rosemary Sutcliff sounded like, as well as some of her observations about her life and writing?The BBC has now made available the original recording of Rosemary Sutcliff on Desert Island Discs with Roy Plumley from October 1st, 1983. She talks about her career, about the difficulties caused by arthritis since she was a child and she chooses the eight records that she would take to the mythical island. They were:
Mind you, Charlotte Higgins, Chief Arts Writer of The Guardian, commented in a tweet:
Well, I have been getting this diary business all wrong. My apologies. I now realise that the entries I have been transcribing date from three years earlier, 1989! For what I have established now is that one diary red notebook lasted several years. I should have seen this!
In that I was aiming to reflect the year just twenty years ago, and the year of her death, I have got it all wrong. But the entries in all other respects have been accurate transcriptions, for the days in question. Now the decision is: do I revert to what I had intended and make those from now 1992? Or do I just plough on, for the year 23 years ago?
ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF (1920-92) 