Perspective

The book has been compiled by one of the subject's closest friends, Sally Fitzgerald. Sally has included many letters which were sent to her and her husband from Flannery O'Connor herself. In this regard, the book is an unusual assemblage. There is a sense in which it is the sharing of memories of a dear deceased friend through reading letters she has left. There is another sense in which the same collection comes off more after the manner of an autobiography as presented through letters from Flannery O'Connor. Flannery's personal presentation through these works of nonfiction show a few essential features which amount to a real life 'persona', what the astrologers call the 'ascendant' - who some interpret by how this person comes across and what aspects of the inner life are shared, given that there is always something hidden.

As an autobiographical work, the author is Flannery...