In 1935 Rose Macaulay (1881-1958) was a well-established novelist, reviewer, columnist and feminist wit. She was part of the 'intellectual aristocracy' of England, but was also passionately interested in everyday life and its foolishnesses. Personal Pleasures is an anthology of 80 short essays (some of them very short) about the things she enjoyed most in life. Her subjects include:
Bed (Getting Into It)
Booksellers Catalogues
Christmas Morning
Driving a Car
Flattery
Heresies
Not Going to Parties
Shopping Abroad
Writing
While each essay can be read on its own as a short dose of delicious writing, the collection is also an autobiographical selection, revealing glimpses of Rose's own life, and making us laugh helplessly with her inimitable humour.