LRB Selections 2: Penelope Fitzgerald

Penelope Fitzgerald wrote almost fifty pieces for the London Review of Books before her death in 2000. Susannah Clapp, who edited many of them, described her as the ideal contributor: ‘She wrote to length, she wrote to time, she wrote without fuss, she wrote a lot, and she wrote always with a steady brilliance.’ As a reviewer, she was appreciative, knowledgable, succinct, and usually, though not always, benign. 

This selection of Fitzgerald at her best includes pieces on Stevie Smith, Alain-Fournier, Adrian Mole, girls’ schools, Roddy Doyle, Wild Swans, wartime London, Anne Enright and Charlotte Mew.