My father and me in 1957.
William Collins
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2015
Copyright © Matthew Spender 2015
Matthew Spender asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover images © Lizzie and Matthew Spender Collection (photographs), except for (top left) by W. Eugene Smith/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images; Shutterstock.com (background texture and picture frames)
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008132064
Ebook Edition © August 2015 ISBN: 9780008132071
Version: 2016-05-24
To my grandchildren: Cleopatra, Aeneas, Ondina and Marlon
Contents
Chapter 3: Suicide or romanticism
Chapter 6: Fires all over Europe
Chapter 7: The purity was hers
Chapter 8: America is not a cause
Chapter 9: Your sins of weakness
Chapter 10: Don’t you ever tell a lie?
Chapter 11: Dreaming one’s way through life
Chapter 13: The irresistible historic mixed grill
Chapter 15: A strong invisible relationship
Chapter 16: Barrenness and desolation
Chapter 21: Might just as well be married
Chapter 22: A nice little niche
Chapter 24: Killing the women we love
Chapter 25: Your father will survive
Chapter 26: Romantic friendships before all
Chapter 27: The right to speak