Customer Reviews

At Seventy: A Journal

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

May Sarton wrote poetry, novels, children's books, anthologies, and nonfiction, but she may be remembered longest for her journals. AT SEVENTY takes place in 1982, when Sarton lived in New England at her rural retreat with her vast garden and her two cats--one a present from Carolyn Heilbrun.

Sarton begins AT SEVENTY with the arrival of the daffodils "a tiny bunch of miniature daffodils, blue starflowers, and glory be two fritillaries." She is back from a month of poetry reading in Connecticut and remarks that her friend Edith Haddaway has left a small bunch of roses for her birthday.

Over the course of the book, Sarton describes her daily struggles with her garden, her typewriter, and her overcommittment to persons and events that seem to keep her from "solitude" and hence writing. Her journal is filled with the activities of a life fairly well lived, though she is not without some regrets and sad remembrances including the loss of her European homeland. AT SEVENTY provides the reader with a peak behind the scenes of how Sarton coped with growing older and the day-to-day necessary interruptions of living, and yet managed to create poetry and other writing.

Sarton

May Sarton, noted "women's writer," journals her 70th year of life. The account records the seasons in Southern Maine while detailing the sometimes mundane (cleaning out a cupboard, visiting friends) and othertimes notable moments in her year. In Sarton's hands, even the mundane blooms and soars with wonderful phrasing and insight.
Her life was rich with visits and correspondence with people both humble and noted. At times the references to people and places or to others' writings passed over my head, but overall the journal was pleasurable reading.
Walking her dog Tamas, shoveling out from a blizzard, reveling in the spring flowers, celebrating her poetry with a reading to a receptive audience... the journal invites the reader to share in her life.
This will appeal to anyone who loves nature, Maine, writing, or contemplative literature.

I am always surprised at how quickly my orders arrive from dealers through Amazon. The book was not a disappointment, condition just as described. Thank you. Colleen Nicholson