Category Archives: biography

Mary S. Lovell, “A Scandalous Life: The Biography of Jane Digby”

Posted on May 21, 2013 by carolwallace

So why should you read the biography of someone you’ve never heard of? Because you’re interested in the period, I suppose, or in the place where that person lived. Because you admire the work of the biographer, certainly. Or a … Continue reading →

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Mary Blume, “The Master of Us All: Balenciaga, His Workrooms, His World”

Posted on March 13, 2013 by carolwallace

I’m going to start with a quotation here, and if you don’t like it you can just move on, because while I adored The Master of Us All, not every reader wants to devote a few hours to a long-dead … Continue reading →

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Mark Seal, “Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Mysterious Death in Africa”

Posted on March 6, 2013 by carolwallace

Yes, another Africa book, but a more contemporary one. When I was in the Kenyan town of Naivasha about a month ago, we drove past a long stretch of sturdy iron fencing that had the initials “JR” worked into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, biography | 1 Comment

Frances Osborne, “The Bolter”

Posted on March 22, 2012 by carolwallace

I didn’t want to like Idina Sackville, the “bolter” of the title. How could I? On page 18 of the book is a heartbreaking photo of two little boys, Idina’s sons Gerard and David, whom she left in their father’s … Continue reading →

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Even More on “Downton Abbey,” This Time Adding Edith Wharton

Posted on January 19, 2012 by carolwallace

This week I spent some time chatting with Pat Ryan of the New York Times who was assigned to write a nifty story for the New York Times about some sites in New York that were reminiscent of Edith Wharton. … Continue reading →

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Caroline Moorehead, “Dancing to the Precipice”

Posted on January 8, 2012 by carolwallace

Lucie Dillon de la Tour du Pin has been vaguely on my radar for a long time; her memoirs show up in  bibliographies when you’re reading about pre-Revolutionary Versailles, or for that matter, about the revolution itself — or even Napoleonic … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, French, nonfiction | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Steven Naifeh & Gregory White Smith, “Van Gogh: The Life”

Posted on December 6, 2011 by carolwallace

Phew! Sorry — but really, who doesn’t feel relief upon finishing a volume that runs 870 pages? I read a paper-bound galley of Van Gogh: The Life and had a hard time just managing its physical bulk. This is not a … Continue reading →

Posted in art history, best seller, biography | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Sarah Bakewell, “How to Live”

Posted on March 24, 2011 by carolwallace

With Sarah Bakewell’s How to Live, I have strayed pretty far from my comfort zone. I don’t read a lot of nonfiction and I rarely wander beyond the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But I was attracted by a friend’s recommendation, … Continue reading →

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Laura Hillenbrand, “Unbroken”

Posted on December 10, 2010 by carolwallace

There is no story without conflict. We can all agree on that. Another theory, widely accepted, is that extreme pressure reveals character, but I’m no longer sure I buy it. After having seen Louie Zamperini through 47 days afloat on … Continue reading →

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Stacy Schiff, “Cleopatra”

Posted on November 30, 2010 by carolwallace

I don’t read a lot of biographies, but if more of them were like Stacy Schiff’s Cleopatra, that would change. On the other hand, it’s hard to know how there could be more biographies like this, because what Schiff does … Continue reading →

Posted in best seller, biography, scholarly | Tagged | 5 Comments