Somewhere Towards the End

Reviews / Votes

"[A] little literary gem, penned by a marvelous, feisty old character whom, quite honestly, I'd just love to have as my grandmother...What a treasure." -- Val Hennessy - Daily Mail "Reflections on old age, rather than on a long life lived are rare...It is rarer still for a woman to write such a book: so Athill's candor and economic prose on religion, regrets, and sex are invigorating." -- Emma Jacobs - Financial Times "One of England's notable book editors examines life, old age and approaching death with astonishing candor...distinguished by her spare, direct prose...Although she knows that death cannot be far off, the present is full of quiet satisfactions...Fiercely intelligent, discomfortingly honest and never dull." -- Kirkus Reviews "[Athill] is bluntly unconcerned with conventional wisdom... . Firmly resolute that no afterlife awaits her, Athill finds just enough optimism in this world to keep her reflections from slipping into morbidity-she may not offer much comfort, but it's a bracing read." -- Publishers Weekly "An astute editor, she writes with precision and clarity, using one word to convey an idea that a lesser writer might expand into a paragraph....[Athill is] an enlightened woman." -- Mary Russell - The Irish Times "An honest joy to read." -- Alice Munro "With the wisdom of nine decades, Diana Athill gives us a memoir that faces aging unflinchingly. From the end of sexual desire to her thoughts and fears on dying and God, Athill deals with growing old with bravery, humor and honesty. What a woman! What a life! What a gorgeous book!" -- Ann Hood, author of Comfort and The Knitting Circle