Description

Monica Lovinescu recalls her life amid the turmoil of the 20th century. She writes about her childhood and youth in Bucharest. She then tells how Romania came under communist rule. The story moves to her exile in Paris. It also covers her work with Radio Free Europe.

This memoir draws on a diary she began as a teen. She made it into a book in the late 1990s. She writes about people and the mood of their times. She weighs what events meant and the moral choices they raised. She links hope for a normal life with the need to fight for it.

In Paris, she talks with friends late into the night. She still feels drawn to Romania. She watches films, goes to concerts, reads, and writes. Her day often began when others stopped for lunch. Her reading fed her radio talks on literature in Romania. It did not feed the pages of this memoir. She sees work as a duty and strives not to be idle.

This is the third edition. It forms part of the Monica Lovinescu anniversary series.