A Notable Woman : The Romantic Journals of Jean Lucey Pratt

In April 1925, Jean Lucey Pratt began writing a journal. She continued to write until just a few days before her death in 1986, producing well over a million words in 45 exercise books over the course of her lifetime. For sixty years, no one had an inkling of her diaries' existence, and they have remained unpublished until now. Jean wrote about anything that amused, inspired or troubled her, laying bare every aspect of her life with aching honesty, infectious humour, indelicate gossip and heartrending hopefulness. She recorded her yearnings and her disappointments in love, from schoolgirl crushes to disastrous adult affairs. She documented the loss of a tennis match, her unpredictable driving, catty friends, devoted cats and difficult guests. With Jean we live through the tumult of the Second World War and the fears of a nation. We see Britain hurtling through a period of unbridled transformation, and we witness the shifting landscape for women in society. As Jean's words propel us back in time, A Notable Woman becomes a unique slice of living, breathing British history and a revealing private chronicle of life in the twentieth century. In April 1925, Jean Lucey Pratt Began Writing A Journal. She Continued To Write Until Just A Few Days Before Her Death In 1986, Producing Well Over A Million Words In 45 Exercise Books During The Course Of Her Lifetime. She Wrote About Anything That Amused Her Or Troubled Her, Laying Bare Every Aspect Of Her Life With Aching Honesty, Infectious Humour, Indelicate Gossip And Heartrending Hopefulness. With Jean We Live Through The Tumult Of The Second World War And The Fears Of A Nation. We See Britain Hurtling Through A Period Of Unbridled Transformation, And We Witness The Shifting Landscape For Women In Society. It Is A Unique Slice Of Living Breathing British History And A Revealing Private Chonicle Of Life In The Twentieth Century. Machine Generated Contents Note: Pt. One Architecture -- 1. Into A Cow -- 2. Jean Rotherham -- 3. Such A Long Way Down -- 4. Two Girls Who Whispered Once -- 5.a Man Shorter Than Myself -- 6. The Popular Idea Of Love -- 7. All His Honeyed Deceit -- 8. Of Her Own Accord -- 9. The Young Girl Glider -- 10. Twentieth-century Blues -- 11.t.s. Eliot Surprised Me -- 12. Like A Knife, He Said -- 13. Israel Epstein -- 14. Into The Woods -- Pt. Two News As It Happens -- 15. The Boys In The Village -- 16. Your Mother In Englant -- 17. Gas-filled Cell -- 18. The Big Moment Passionate -- 19. Francis -- 20. The Whole World Involved -- 21. What Being A Woman Means -- 22. Asbestos Front -- 23. Hiduminium Aluminium -- 24. Good Dyed Squirrel -- 25. The Robot Plane -- 26. Arsenic Blue -- 27. Plenty Of Time For Dick -- 28. Oh, The Swine! -- Pt. Three A Starving Europe -- 29.a Large Bag Of Biscuits -- Chocolate And Plain -- 30. No More Ghosts -- 31. The Problem Of Palestine -- 32. Of Course He Stayed -- 33. Howl My Heart Out. Note Continued: 34. Auragraph -- 35. Guardian Aunt, Rather Exciting -- 36. Destroy, Destroy, Destroy -- 37. To Be Published -- 38.x-ray Man -- 39. How She Smells -- 40. The Latest Boogie-woogie -- 41.a Deadly Sting -- 42. Self-knowledge -- Pt. Four The Village's Book Supplier -- 43. The Colour Of Nurses -- 44. Hags And Bitches -- 45. Terminex -- 46. Gloss And Plastic And What Have You -- 47. Slough Of Despond -- 48. Now We Know. Edited By Simon Garfield. Includes Bibliographical References. A glorious gut-wrenching read . . . A Notable Woman makes my heart sing. Jean’s diaries are a life in its entirety, in all its glorious mess” ( The Pool ). In April 1925, at the age of fifteen, Jean Lucey Pratt started a journal that she kept until just a few days before her death in 1986, producing over a million words in forty-five exercise books. What emerges is a portrait of a truly unique, spirited woman and writer. Never before has an account so fully, so honestly, and so vividly captured a single woman’s journey through the twentieth century. “Jean’s journals are timeless. She leaps out of her own pages, free as she never was in life: you want to protect her, and simultaneously to slap her and cheer her on. It’s very funny, occasionally sobering, and shot through with acute insights. Who would have imagined that the life of a Buckinghamshire bookseller would make you want to turn the pages so fast? I wanted to know how she got through the war, but I was even more interested in when she would lose her virginity.” —Hilary Mantel, New York Times –bestselling author “Shows us, in close up, how extraordinary the business of an ‘ordinary’ life can be—how much complexity and feeling and humour it can contain.” — The Guardian “The most moving and important book I read this year by a mile.” — New Statesman “What makes these diaries such pleasurable reading is one’s sense of the diarist herself: her vibrancy and humour, her idea of life as a battle to overcome and, most of all, her endless supply of hope and her refusal to be beaten.” — Literary Review 'Extraordinary. Timeless, funny and utterly absorbing' HILARY MANTEL In April 1925, Jean Lucey Pratt started a journal that she would keep for the rest of her life, producing over a million words in 45 exercise books. For sixty years, no one had an inkling of her diaries' existence, and they have remained unpublished until now. Jean wrote about anything that amused, inspired or troubled her, laying bare her life with aching honesty, infectious humour, indelicate gossip and heartrending hopefulness. She recorded her yearnings and disappointments in love. She documented the loss of a tennis match, her unpredictable driving, catty friends, devoted cats and difficult guests. With Jean we live through the tumult of the Second World War and the fears of a nation. We see Britain hurtling through a period of unbridled transformation and the shifting landscape for women in society. A unique slice of living, breathing British history, Jean's diaries are a revealing chronicle of life in the twentieth century In April 1925, Jean Lucey Pratt began writing a journal. She continued to write until just a few days before her death in 1986, producing well over a million words in 45 exercise books over the course of her lifetime. For sixty years, no one had an inkling of her diaries' existence, and they have remained unpublished until now. Jean wrote about anything that amused, inspired or troubled her, laying bare every aspect of her life with aching honesty, infectious humour, indelicate gossip and heartrending hopefulness. She documented the loss of a tennis match, her unpredictable driving, catty friends, devoted cats and difficult guests. As Jean's words propel us back in time, 'A Notable Woman' becomes a unique slice of living, breathing British history and a revealing private chronicle of life in the 20th century