At Seventy: A Journal [Paperback]

Sarton May (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 1993

"Sarton has fashioned her journals, 'sonatas'as she calls them, into a distinctive literary form: relaxed yet shapely, a silky weave of reflection . . . with the reader made companion to her inmost thoughts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.; Underlining edition (April 17, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393310302
• ISBN-13: 978-0393310306
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #298,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

May Sarton is the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton (May 3, 1912 - July 16, 1995), an American poet, novelist, and memoirist. Her parents were science historian George Sarton and his wife, the English artist Mabel Eleanor Elwes. In 1915, her family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. She went to school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and started theatre lessons in her late teens. In 1945 she met her partner for the next thirteen years, Judy Matlack, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. They separated in 1956, when Sarton's father died and Sarton moved to Nelson, New Hampshire. Honey in the Hive (1988) is about their relationship. Sarton later moved to York, Maine. She died of breast cancer on July 16, 1995. She is buried in Nelson, New Hampshire.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A year in the life of a writer...., June 25, 2001

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: At Seventy: A Journal (Paperback)

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

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Year in a Writer's Life On the Maine Coast, August 12, 2006

By 

Virginia Allain "(retired librarian)" (Poinciana, FL) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: At Seventy: A Journal (Paperback)

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.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Seventy, A Journal, April 19, 2010

By 

Colleen J. Nicholson "live to read, read to l... (Petersburg, AK USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: At Seventy: A Journal (Paperback)

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