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maplessence's review
4.0
4.5★
This book wouldn't be for everyone. It is really only for the diehard Katherine Mansfield fan, who wants to know everything, no matter how peripherally a book is connected with Mansfield's life.
Fortunately I fall into that category.
A later picture of the late Ms Scott. (She died in 2014)
This memoir starts with Ms Scott being widowed at a young age, after her husband dies in a climbing accident. She moves to Christchurch so her parents can support her with her two young children (and another one on the way) She does some low paying & unsatisfying jobs before training as a librarian. After training, she is fortunate enough to secure a job at the (wonderful) Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington.
Ms Scott turns out to be one of the very few people who can decipher Mansfield's nearly illegible handwriting (this book touches on how often Mansfield's husband [a:John Middleton Murry|438935|John Middleton Murry|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] got it wrong) Her abilities had her working on their Mansfield manuscripts, travelling overseas to study & persuade collectors to donate Mansfield's letters to the Turnbull. Receiving a Menton Fellowship to research Mansfield's time in France would have seemed a fabulous opportunity, but she received little cooperation & lived in poverty whilst fending off the advances of an amorous painter & the bludging of a couple of con artists.
And here is the dilemma of a memoir author, as like [a:Graham Nash|177471|Graham Nash|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1428667250p2/177471.jpg], Scott does take the opportunity to take a few swipes at people in her life she didn't care for. So when is this being honest & avoiding a bland whitewash of your life, and when is this taking the opportunity to pay off old scores? Scott skirts close to this couple of times, but in my opinion she doesn't overstep the mark. In fact, I would have liked to know more of why collaborating with renowned NZ writer [a:Vincent O'Sullivan|151326|Vincent O'Sullivan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1418158729p2/151326.jpg] on the 5 volumes of Letters of Katherine Mansfield wasn't a happy experience. Scott certainly isn't reticent in recounting trysts with her admirers! I really do admire her honesty. & she writes very movingly about Mansfield's longtimedogsbody friend, Ida Baker.
Recommended - but only for people interested in Scott's life. This isn't a biography of Mansfield.
And, because I can. I went to the Hamilton Gardens last Sunday. The Katherine Mansfield Garden (which features a replica of her childhood home at Tinakori St, Wellington) is now open.
This book wouldn't be for everyone. It is really only for the diehard Katherine Mansfield fan, who wants to know everything, no matter how peripherally a book is connected with Mansfield's life.
Fortunately I fall into that category.
A later picture of the late Ms Scott. (She died in 2014)
This memoir starts with Ms Scott being widowed at a young age, after her husband dies in a climbing accident. She moves to Christchurch so her parents can support her with her two young children (and another one on the way) She does some low paying & unsatisfying jobs before training as a librarian. After training, she is fortunate enough to secure a job at the (wonderful) Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington.
Ms Scott turns out to be one of the very few people who can decipher Mansfield's nearly illegible handwriting (this book touches on how often Mansfield's husband [a:John Middleton Murry|438935|John Middleton Murry|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png] got it wrong) Her abilities had her working on their Mansfield manuscripts, travelling overseas to study & persuade collectors to donate Mansfield's letters to the Turnbull. Receiving a Menton Fellowship to research Mansfield's time in France would have seemed a fabulous opportunity, but she received little cooperation & lived in poverty whilst fending off the advances of an amorous painter & the bludging of a couple of con artists.
And here is the dilemma of a memoir author, as like [a:Graham Nash|177471|Graham Nash|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1428667250p2/177471.jpg], Scott does take the opportunity to take a few swipes at people in her life she didn't care for. So when is this being honest & avoiding a bland whitewash of your life, and when is this taking the opportunity to pay off old scores? Scott skirts close to this couple of times, but in my opinion she doesn't overstep the mark. In fact, I would have liked to know more of why collaborating with renowned NZ writer [a:Vincent O'Sullivan|151326|Vincent O'Sullivan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1418158729p2/151326.jpg] on the 5 volumes of Letters of Katherine Mansfield wasn't a happy experience. Scott certainly isn't reticent in recounting trysts with her admirers! I really do admire her honesty. & she writes very movingly about Mansfield's longtime
Recommended - but only for people interested in Scott's life. This isn't a biography of Mansfield.
And, because I can. I went to the Hamilton Gardens last Sunday. The Katherine Mansfield Garden (which features a replica of her childhood home at Tinakori St, Wellington) is now open.
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