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So I Have Thought of You

Page 54

by Penelope Fitzgerald


  I’m glad the maple tree is out, but horrified at the arrival of the Canada geese. They’ve given up hibernating – the ones that live over here, anyway – and stay right through the winter, multiplying at an alarming rate

  with best wishes

  Penelope

  27a Bishop’s Road

  Highgate

  London, N6

  29 March 2000*

  Dear Chris,

  Thankyou so much for your letter and the further notes and queries. I’ve never had such a careful editor, not even in the long-ago days when there were ‘printers’ readers’.

  You’ve been most successful in tracing these various clerics, though they may all drop dead while your back is turned, and that’s also true of practically every one in the foreword. Do you think it’s enough to put 15 March 2000 at the end? I expect you’ve come across this problem quite often. Really it would be better not to thank anyone, but they did go to so much trouble.

  And so have you! ‘patient to a fault’ is just about right, but at least Dilly’s birth-date is right now. His own son, my cousin, Oliver, didn’t know it. In fact, I’m not sure Dilly knew it himself, because I’m certain he said the lunch at the Spread-Eagle was for his 50th birthday, but he was wrong.

  I’m supposed to be going away from April 25th to 29th – Ria says I must go because she must have my walls repainted. I’d hoped they might last me out, but she says not –

  love and best wishes

  Penelope

  The Kitchen Drawer Poem

  The nutcracker, the skewer, the knife, are doomed to share this drawer for life.

  You cannot pierce, the skewer says, or cause the pain of in one place.

  You cannot grind, you do not know, says nutcracker, the pain of slow.

  You don’t know what it is to slice, to both of them the knife replies,

  with pain so fine it is not pain to part what cannot join again.

  The skewer, nutcracker, and knife are well adapted to their life.

  They calculate efficiency by what the others cannot be

  and power by the pain they cause and that is life in kitchen drawers.

  The Father and the Mother

  Here are two individuals who

  have reproduced their kind

  and each of them possesses both

  a body and a mind.

  They sit upon two separate chairs

  they sit between four walls

  and it was a mistake to call

  them individuals.

  Index

  The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.

  Acocella Joan 338, 516

  Adams Frederick 488

  Amory Mark 466, 473

  Anderson Lindsay 72

  Arts Council 85, 228, 392, 397, 399–400

  Aubrey Mme. 35–36

  Austen Jane 263, 467

  BBC 20–22, 63,77, 80, 238, 277, 280, 300–1, 327, 377–8, 380, 405, 409, 440–1, 472

  Bainbridge Beryl 373, 382, 388, 413, 424

  Barker A.L. (Pat) 424, 438–41

  Barnes Julian 469

  Barnett Elizabeth (god-daughter) 101, 111, 209–222

  Barr Alyson 29–31, 456–8

  Batey Mavis 247, 250–3, 413

  Bedford Sybille 376, 383, 394, 424, 468

  Beerbohm Max 475

  Bennett Alan 293

  Bennett Mary 294, 302, 307, 318, 321, 418

  Beowulf 461–3

  Bertrand Général 159

  Biography (as genre) 161, 201, 205, 245, 263–4, 271, 301, 313, 319, 353, 372, 397, 443–4

  Birch Frank 233, 252

  Blake William 354

  Bloomfield Paul 72, 257, 272, 276

  Bloomsbury 24, 26–7, 30, 340, 346

  Blue Flowers 190, 363,453, 502, 504

  Booker Prize 76, 196, 200, 202, 274, 280, 317, 358, 418, 423, 428, 441

  Borges 475

  Bown Jane 421

  Boy Reading (Watteau) 74, 433, 480

  Bradbury Malcolm 424, 427

  Breakwell Mrs. 5–6, 12–13, 15–18, 19, 21, 24

  Breakwell Oliver 5, 6, 8, 11–13, 17–19

  Briggs Asa 377–8

  British Academy 402

  British Council 430

  British Library 107, 151, 284, 291, 411, 461

  Brookner Anita 421

  Burne Jones 68, 73, 81, 110–11, 132, 181, 201, 240, 295, 296–9, 309, 311, 320, 327, 446–8, 466

  Callil Carmen 393, 398, 404

  Canaletto 421

  Capitalism 360

  Carduff Chris 193, 367, 434, 485, 487–520

  Carr J.L. 439, 465–7, 484

  Caulfield Patrick 134, 389

  Cecil Lord David 125–6, 256, 263, 265, 267–8, 276, 281, 349, 401

  Chamot Mary 48, 11, 122, 126

  Chandler Raymond 354, 356

  Charleston 25–6, 31–2, 342

  Chatsworth 324

  Chaucer Geoffrey 356, 465

  Chesney Graham 437

  Christian John 81, 136, 294, 297, 299

  Clapham Antiquarian Society 122, 127, 140

  Cockerell Sydney 398, 400

  Coleridge 43–4, 413, 479, 504

  Coles Dorothy 459–63

  Collins 260, 303, 310, 315, 342, 358, 370–436, 480–6

  Commonwealth Fiction Prize (judge) 79

  Conder Maryllis (Willie) 42, 44–6, 72, 82, 95, 142–4, 155, 174–208

  Counterpoint 458, 514–5

  Cowper William 465

  de Baissac Marielle 49–50, 110, 117, 155, 158, 166

  de Morgan William 205, 453, 502

  Dickinson Patric 244–5, 398, 488

  Doyle Roddy 414, 418

  Drabble Margaret 308, 328, 488

  Eliot T.S. 58, 244, 334

  English Speaking Union 512

  Enigma 159, 233, 237 239, 247, 375, 518

  Farjeon Eleanor 339

  Fisher James 501

  Fisher Jean (Lady Talbot) 7, 15, 19, 21, 23, 82, 160, 175, 186, 193, 377

  Fitzgerald Desmond (husband) 33–173 multiple references (Daddy), 174–5, 224, 283, 308, 368, 482, 518

  Fitzgerald Penelope

  WORKS:

  Edward Burne-Jones 117, 144, 203, 234, 295–6, 409, 417, 447, 518, 494–5 (see also Burne Jones)

  The Knox Brothers 3,149–50, 154, 166, 168, 176, 233–249, 263, 353, 370, 457, 510–20 (see also Knoxes)

  The Golden Child 240, 319, 375, 430, 481

  The Bookshop 203, 255–62, 273–4, 371, 375, 433, 480, 485, 501–5

  Offshore 179, 370–5, 377, 380, 386, 506

  Human Voices 327, 376–82, 429, 434 (see also BBC)

  At Freddie’s 340, 388–92, 432

  Charlotte Mew and Her Friends 337–8, 341, 349, 395–400, 402, 433, 467, 472, 486–96 (see also Mew Charlotte)

  Innocence 342, 434, 377, 380, 386, 507

  The Beginning of Spring 350, 425, 429, 442, 445, 450, 494, 507

  The Gate of Angels 357, 410, 420–2, 424–6, 428, 433, 437, 455, 466, 477, 506

  The Blue Flower 192, 203, 322–3, 366, 417, 453, 475, 479, 480–2, 499–504, 507

  The Means of Escape 482–5, 515–16, (’The Axe’) 168, (’At Hiruharama’) 430–1

  The Kitchen Drawer Poem 63

  DAYS:

  accident-prone 73, 107, 110, 113, 128, 131, 145, 165, 225, 206, 396

  biography 161, 201, 205, 245, 263–4, 271, 301, 313, 319, 353, 372, 397, 443–4

  childhood 36, 186–7, 199, 330–1, 368, 517

  clothes 66–7, 108, 157

  committees and judging (see general index)

  country(-side) 10, 16–17, 22, 148–9, 214, 305, 335,400, 402–3

  faith 64, 68, 80, 99, 104, 126, 134–5, 154, 204, 242, 270, 313, 353, 368, 391, 426, 431, 438, 455, 518

  family (see Knoxes)

  food (plain) 13, 32, 57, 75, 87, 124, 134, 150, 194, 197, 20
4, 245, 423, 459, 503, 511

  Georgians 26

  handwriting 1, 205, 431

  heartfelt or characteristic 8, 31, 55, 122–3, 127, 202, 259–60, 268, 270, 282, 289, 301, 327, 323, 325, 338, 372–4, 378–9, 382, 384, 388, 391, 397, 422, 429, 447, 453, 463, 473, 481, 490, 492, 499, 508–9, 513, 518

  husband (Desmond Fitzgerald) 33–173,

  multiple references (Daddy) 174–5, 224, 283, 308, 368, 482, 518

  indexing 169

  letters 1, 18, 3, 19, 364

  literature 58, 61

  London 343, 385

  money (lack of) 55, 77, 130, 132, 141, 146, 164, 170, 349, 360, 373, (fairy gold) 268, 324, 483

  as mother 53, 58, 66, 74, 76, 82, 106, 108, 115–6, 122–3, 141, 146, 155, 166, 178, 202, 223, 404–5

  neighbours (trouble with) 114, 121, 130, 132, 154

  old age 88, 148, 183, 192, 199–201, 206, 216, 415, 515

  Oxford 20, 65, 94, 116, 250, 258, 294

  papers (manuscripts etc.) 3, 350, 363, 409, 433

  photographs of 1, 16, 24, 160, 162, 192, 377, 421, 505, 519

  politics 71, 126, 143, 324, 360, 497

  publishing 179, 235, 282, 399, 404–5, 424–5, 429, 476, 480

  reviewing 408, 461

  studies 37, 50, 68

  teaching 60–1, 105–6, 111, 137, 141, 147, 149, 165, 167, 171–2, 209, 235, 241, 273, 385, 436, 453

  war 4–6, 9–23

  widowhood 23, 174–5, 192

  writing 23, 30, 61, 117, 197, 255, 310, 374, 378, 382–3, 389, 391, 436, 441–2, 447, 453, 467, 474

  Flamingo 404, 427, 481, 486, 501

  Flint F.S. 334, 337–8 (see also Poetry Bookshop)

  Forster E.M. 269, 273, 301, 305–8, 312, 314, 320, 327

  Forward Prize (judge) 289

  Freud 22

  Frost Robert 244, 492

  Ghosts 480

  Gittings Robert 380, 398, 490

  Goff Martyn 381

  Golden Pen 93, 204

  Grace (houseboat) 111, 142, 384, 506

  Hamlets 355

  Hartley L.P. (Leslie) 255–7, 260, 263–84, (projected life of) 349, 370–1, 396, 401, 472

  Hartley Norah 256, 260, 263–6, 472

  Hastings Selina 200

  Haycraft Colin 255–62, 271–2, 277–8, 375, 396, 413, 430

  Heine 378

  Heinemann Prize (judge) 514–5

  Heinemann Tara 226

  Heywood Hill award 324, 468

  Hichens Rachel 100, 209–22, 384

  Hill Geoffrey 515

  Hinde Thomas 378

  Hockney David 389

  Hoffman Michael 366

  Holmes Richard 367, 413, 421, 435, 479

  Holroyd Michael 26, 31, 234, 321, 328, 398, 400–1, 423, 472–4, 488

  Holt Henry 420, 490

  Holtby Prize (judge) 473

  Holy Land the 431, 502

  Hope Christopher 432

  Hopkins Gerard Manley 326, 427–8, 463

  Houghton Mifflin 367, 485–6, 326, 501–2, 510

  Housman A. E. 202, 289, 345, 406

  Hughes Ted 63

  Hurd Douglas 441

  Independent Foreign Fiction Prize (judge) 417, 480

  Ishiguro Kazuo 317

  James Henry 150, 263, 266, 371, 503

  James M.R. (Monty) 421, 424, 435, 455, 479

  Jesuits 420

  Jewett Sarah Orne 508

  Kelvin Norman 296, 309, 313, 360

  Kermode Sir Frank 374, 382, 415, 452–3

  Keynes Maynard 25, 29, 236, 238, 353, 437–8

  King Francis 26, 79, 255, 263–92, 439–41

  Kipling Rudyard (Kim) 320

  Knox (Shepard) Mary (step-mother) 48, 70, 72, 78, 81, 86, 97, 107, 109, 118, 127, 130, 133, 135, 137–8, 140–1, 147, 154–5, 159, 176, 184, 201, 203, 210, 223–9, 303

  Knox Bishop (grandfather) 10, 466, 516

  Knox Dillwyn (uncle) 25, 149–50, 251–3, 353–4, 413, 437

  Knox Edmund Valpy (father) 51, 62, 97, 101, 109, 141, 155, (as Grandpa) 187, 223–9, 251, 381, 475, 490, 511, 517–9

  Knox Helen (sister-in-law) 230 (see also Rawle Knox)

  Knox Oliver (cousin) 147, 158, 251, 415–6

  Knox Rawle (brother) 10, 18–19, 21–2, 63, 84, 101, 146, 148, 155, 186, 215, 226, 230, 319

  Knox Ronnie (uncle) 238, 249, 381, 384, 457, 510–11, 517–18

  Knox Wilfred (uncle) 154, 257, 272, 391

  Krementz Jill 505

  Lago Mary 294–329

  Larkin Philip 75, 499

  Lawrence D.H. 348, 453

  Lee Hermione 80

  Lee Hugh (Ham) 3–32, 342, 353, 456

  Lessing Doris 343

  Levy Paul 234–6, 248

  Llewellyn Rees Prize (judge) 28, 424

  London 343, 385

  London Review of Books 90, 382, 391, 452–3, 482

  Lowestoft (nickname) 4–8

  Lubow Arthur 328

  Mackail John W. 460–1

  Macmillan 233–48

  Macmillan Harold 249

  Manguel Alberto 475–6

  Mantegna 167, 300, 429

  Mantel Hilary 454

  Masefield John 18

  Maugham Somerset 353–4

  McGough Roger 63

  Mew Charlotte 200, 244, 286, 304, 310, 347, 365, 380, 393, 395, 400, 409, 462, 467, 486–96

  Mexico 365

  Michael Joseph 166, 370

  Mills Magnus 509

  Ministry of Food 10, 12, 15, 18, 20

  Monro Harold and Alida 243–4, 330–69, 397 (see also Poetry Bookshop)

  Moore Brian 471

  Morris William 162, 297, 309, 313–14, 342, 349, 356, 360, 382, 385, 444, 453, 459–63, 502

  Moscow 156, 442, 445–6

  Muggeridge Malcolm 150, 240, 254, 371, 384

  Munch Edvard 359

  Myers Leo (L.H.) 305, 396

  New Criterion (The) 496, 498, 510, 519

  Newman Cardinal 65, 393

  Nichols Bridget 455

  Novalis 322, 366, 451, 453, 475–6

  Nuryev 165

  Oliphant Mrs. 313, 315

  Olivier Laurence 117

  Ollard Richard 370–419

  Orton Joe 50

  Papers (manuscripts etc.) 3, 350, 363, 409, 433

  PEN 46, 85, 265, 268, 285, 343, 381, 394, 396, 441

  Pinter Harold 50

  Poetry (Readings) 63, 459–63

  Poetry Bookshop The (projected biography of) 243–7, 296, 330–69, 378, 381 (see also Monro)

  Politics 71, 126, 143, 324, 360, 497

  Powell Anthony 276

  Probert Janet 7, 19, 21, 23, 29–30

  Proffitt Stuart 199, 403, 407, 411–13, 416, 420–35

  Publishing 179, 235, 282, 399, 404–5, 424–5, 429, 476, 480

  Punch 4–8, 497–8, 510, 519–20

  Pym Barbara 180, 307, 388

  Quigley Isabel 85, 427, 474

  Ratcliffe Michael 307, 424

  Richard Cliff 35, 56

  Rosemary Crawshay Prize 402

  Rossetti Christina 49

  Rota Bertram 277, 336, 344, 347

  Royal Society of Literature 194, 200, 424, 473–4

  Rushdie Salman 93, 407

  Ruskin 56, 305–6, 313, 426

  Saunders James 436

  Segovia 424

  Sendak Maurice 503

  Shakespeare 44, 63, 238, 278–9, 423, 447, 517

  Shepard Ernest 79, 176, 243 (Mary Knox’s father)

  Sinclair May 286

  Somerset 12, 301, 305

  Spark Muriel 366, 501

  Spencer Stanley 358, 424, 456

  Spurling Hilary 308

  St Deiniol’s Library, Hawarden 64–8, 96–8, 112, 148–9

  Strachey Lytton 30, 234

  Surtees Virginia 73, 290

  Tasmania (Hobart Festival) 183, 360

  Terry Ellen 447

  Texas 261, 278–9, 316, 365, 409

  TLS 240, 246, 257, 260, 273, 371, 382, 394, 440, 483 />
  Tolstoy 34, 220, 420

  Tomalin Claire 253, 449

  Toronto (Olympian Writers Week) 315

  Translation 477–8, 481–2

  Trevelyan Raleigh 270, 287, 370, 394, 440

  Truss Lynne 424

  U.S. National Book Critics Circle Award 198, 508

  Vickers Salley 485

  Vidler Alec 150, 242

  Vigne Randolph 38

  Warner Marina 80, 87

  Warner Val 257, 273, 397

  Watkinson Ray 314, 364, 457, 462–3

  Waugh Evelyn 237, 381, 457–8

  Webb Philip 188, 481

  Wedgwood Veronica 371–2

  What Katy Did 317

  Whitbread Prize (judge) 421, 424

  Wickham Anna 330, 335, 337, 339, 346, 348 (see also Poetry Bookshop)

  Wilde Oscar 447

  William Morris Society 31, 145, 162, 297, 309, 313–14, 319, 356, 360, 456–7, 459–63

  Wilson A.N. 419

  Wittgenstein 28

  Wogan Terry 407

  Woolf Virginia 75, 128, 304, 342

  Woolmer J. Howard 330–69, 425, 432

  Wordsworth 43, 306, 332, 341

  Wordsworth Dorothy 43–4, 188

  Wordsworth Elizabeth 119

  Wren P.C. 9

  Writing 23, 30, 61, 117, 197, 255, 310, 374, 378, 382–3, 389, 391, 436, 441–2, 447, 453, 467, 474

  Yeats John Butler 369

  Acknowledgements

  My grateful thanks are due to all those who kept their letters from Penelope so carefully, and so kindly contributed them to this book: to Hugh and Penny Lee, Maryllis and Anne Conder, Elizabeth Barnett, Chris Carduff, Howard Woolmer, Mavis Batey, Helen Knox, Harvey Pitcher, Michael Holroyd, Alberto Manguel, Stuart Proffitt, Alyson Barr, Dorothy Coles, Richard Holmes, Heulwen Cox (for J.L.Carr), Bridget Nichols, Masolino d’Amico, Graham Chesney, Maria and Tina.

 

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