Diana's Story [Paperback]

Deric Longden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 1993

In 1971, Deric Longden's wife Diana fell ill with the mysterious disorder known as ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis). She was unable to move without a wheelchair, and was in almost constant pain. Equally distressing, perhaps, was the fact that every doctor she saw was unable to diagnose what was wrong with her. Deric, devoting more and more time to looking after Diana, watched his business gradually fail, and had to neglect his developing career as a broadcaster. He became house husband, nurse and caretaker of the women he loved. "Diana's Story" is told by a writer who can transform the bleakest moment with his warmth and wit. It is an extraordinary funny account of a marriage based on love and on an exceptional sense of humour.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Now the BBC Television drama "Wise-Eyed & Legless"

'A remarkable book, warm and sad ... laced with a lot of humour' - Sunday Express

'A funny, sad and, above all, enormously inspiring story' - Clare Francis, President, Action For M.E.

About the Author

Deric Longden was born in Chesterfield in 1936 and married Diana Hill in 1957. They had two children, Sally and Nicholas. After various jobs he took over, a small factory making lingerie, but he began writing and broadcasting in the 1970s and before long was writing regularly for programmes like "Does He Take Sugar?" and broadcasting on "Woman's Hour", most of his work being closely based on his own experience. The demands made on him by Diana's illness, subsequently believed to be a form of ME, forced him to sell the factory, and since then he has devoted himself to writing, broadcasting, lecturing and afterdinner speaking. Diana's Story, published in 1989 some years after Diana's death, was a bestseller. His other books, Lost For Words, The Cat Who Came In From the Cold, I'm A Stranger Here Myself and Enough to Make a Cat Laugh, are also available in Corgi paperback. Deric Longden married the writer Aileen Armitage in 1990 and now lives in Huddersfield.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Transworld Pub (August 5, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552139440
• ISBN-13: 978-0552139441
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & Fibromyalgia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No, this is NOT about Princess Diana., March 6, 2000

By 

Daniel - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diana's Story (Paperback)

In a later book Longden records that a woman assaulted him at a book-signing for this book, believing that he was James Hewitt, and the book was about the Princess of Wales. It is not. This anecdote highlights Longden's eye and ear for the small nuances of trivia and life that so often are forgotten, but which are so true and funny that we ought to remember them more often. When people deride Longden for making comic novels about his family's sufferings, I cannot but feel sorry for them. Diana's Story is a very warm book, full of the human touch and a great sense of humour, full of love and soul. It could so easily be an angry and embittered novel which would please the critics and anyone with literary pretensions, a searing attack upon the medical services who failed to recognise his wife's ME, but although it is full of anger and sorrow, it is also full of humour and love. Diana's refusal to be ground down by her demeaning and agonising illness is an inspiration to us all. Her warmth and humour shine through, despite her suffering and agony, as does that of her husband, who wrote the story. We laugh and cry simultaneously, the wit and the pathos so exquisitely blended that our feelings are exercised well and truly. It is a beautiful book, both laugh-out-loud funny, and fantastically sad, and should be an inspiration to anybody who reads it. Books about sickness and death don't have to be morbid and dark. They can be funny without compromising their power to move us.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An emotional roller-coaster - excellent reading., May 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Diana's Story (Paperback)

My copy was sent to me by my mother from England, and its already traveled to Mexico and back too. A joy to read. Sometimes I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my chair, other times I cried - something I have never done with a book before. I got homesick when references were made to some of my favorite Britsh snacks. I wish every ill person could be blessed with Diana's sense of humor, and the wonderful husband she had. I wish Longden's books were more easily available in Florida.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books i ever read!, January 4, 2004

By 

Susanne White (Lancashire,England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Diana's Story (Paperback)

Deric Longden's "Diana's Story" must undoutably be one of the best books i ever read. His ability to find humour in day to day life whilst coping with his wifes debilitating illness makes this book an absolute joy to read. I also love this book for it mentions how Deric's mother linked Diana's illness to polio that she had as a little girl. Years ago the link between M.E. and polio was unheard of; it is only in recent years there has been thought to be a link. My advice is just read it!!