Frances Partridge: The Biography

A well-written, interesting biography of a remarkable diarist (always a favorite genre of mine), editor, translator and member of the Bloomsbury circle who continued working at her desk until her death at 104. She married Carrington's husband, Ralph Partridge, and became part of that select artistic, intellectual group surround Lytton Strachey, writing, reviewing and traveling and always discussing. I enjoyed the book immensely and am now equally taken with her diaries, borrowed from a friend.

A well-written, interesting biography of a remarkable diarist (always a favorite genre of mine), editor, translator and member of the Bloomsbury circle who continued working at her desk until her death at 104. She married Carrington's husband, Ralph Partridge, and became part of that select artistic, intellectual group surround Lytton Strachey, writing, reviewing and traveling and always discussing. I enjoyed the book immensely and am now equally taken with her diaries, borrowed from a friend.

This is a sympathetic and fascinating biography of Frances Partridge. It is easy to criticise Partridge. She lived her life on the fringe of Bloomsbury, cocooned in a safe intellectual and middle class bubble from which she never really escaped and which, it seems, protected her from ever really having to face consequences of her absolutism - her blind devotion to Ralph, which excluded and damaged her son, her determined pacifism. But there is also much to admire, her capacity for friendship, her skills of observation, her stoicism and her determination to grasp her own happiness - but without trampling too much on other's feelings (I appreciate that this is her own account, but by her actions she seems to have tried not to cause show more Strachey and Carrington unnecessary pain during the ménage, sometimes to her cost, whilst simultaneously making it clear to all that she loved Ralph and was not going to leave him). show less

I found the story of Frances' life inspiring ... whilst not that interested in the Bloomsbury story and found her acceptance of her husband's affairs and lack of interest in work confounding ... however, that following his death, in a calm acceptance of her own, that she found herself in the midst of a completely fulfilling life, rude health an active engagement with the community, she really was an amazing women. I also appreciated her honesty, especially when she realised that her memoirs were becoming records on her friends and family's life, rather than her own. I do recommend this book to anyone who feels that an ability to have a meaningful life ceases at retirement (or some other milestone).

An extraordinary woman with a gift for expression. I have been reading her published diaries which she edited herself and enjoyed them all thoroughly so I had to read her biography and was not disappointed. An extraordinary life filled with extraordinary people. She was loved.