Two by Diana Athill, on sale today. ✨

 

A legendary editor at André Deutsch—where she worked with the likes of Margaret Atwood, Philip Roth, Simone de Beauvoir, Norman Mailer, Stevie Smith, and Jack Kerouac—Athill (1917–2019) became known as a talented writer in her own right, mostly for her intimate memoirs, one of which NYRB Classics is publishing today. 

 

Instead of a Letter details Athill’s own coming-of-age, including the story of her tragic first love, life during World War II, and the start of her career as an editor. It is a tender, sometimes brutally honest look at the ways life can be both unfair and full of promise. 

 

Don’t Look at Me Like That is the only novel Athill published in her lifetime, and it is a coming-of-age story of sorts, too. Meg Bailey, a reserved young woman, enrolls in art school, becomes an illustrator in London, and risks all for love, turning her life and her relationships with those around her upside-down.  

 

Instead of a Letter has an afterword by Lena Dunham and Don’t Look at Me Like includes an afterword by Helen Oyeyemi. 

 

Cover art for both books by Be⅕a Nettles.