Ups and Downs

Francis Partridge's diaries are the record of a woman who not only participated in the lives of the legendary Bloomsbury group, but was the circle’s oldest surviving member until her death in 2004. At the age of 100, Frances Partridge decided to publish another volume of diaries which cover the years 1972-1975. Recognized as one of the great British diarists of the century, she was born in Bloomsbury in 1900, studied at Cambridge, and became part of the Bloomsbury Group, encountering Virginia Woolf, the Bells, Roger Fry and Maynard Keynes. Her diaries, written without thought of publication, chronicle a remarkable life. Beautifully written, full of an infectious enthusiasm and unending curiosity, they are utterly riveting and rank amongst the greatest diaries of the 20th century.