First published 1988
Claudia Hampton lies dying in a hospital bed, her mind racing through decades of memory. A celebrated historian and writer, she reflects on her unconventional life with fierce intelligence and brutal honesty. Her thoughts drift between her work documenting the past, her complicated relationship with her daughter, and above all, her passionate wartime affair in Egypt that defined her existence. As Claudia's body fails, she reconstructs her story with the same analytical precision she once applied to historical events. The narrative moves between past and present, revealing a woman who lived boldly but never found the love that might have completed her. Lively creates an unflinching portrait of mortality, ambition, and the relationships that shape us.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adult-fiction, biographical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: non-linear-narrative, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Egypt
Period: World War II
208 pages · Paperback · Grove Press