Last week the
New York Times reviewed A Book of Secrets, about Vita Sackville West's love affair with Violet Trefusis, and waxed fulsome on Michael Holroyd's skills as a biographer:
From the first page “A Book of Secrets” casts the spell of a time long gone, of loves endured and lost, expectations dashed on the rocks of reality, of inner desires forever stilled, casting their shadows into history. It is written with the kind of elegance, ease and simplicity possible only from a master craftsman who has flown far beyond any learning curve and is relishing his free fall. He carries us as if on a magic carpet from one character to the next, and one time period to the next, with consummate grace. Holroyd is a kind of Fred Astaire on the page, his many steps becoming one grand, profound design.
There's an excerpt to read
here. I also saw a
brief clip from British TV in which Holroyd tells us how he got the idea for the story. Also see the August 5
NYT Book Review Podcast for more comments from Toni Bentley.
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