29 AUGUST 1998, page 30

In My Lady's Chamber

Peter Vansittart T he historical novel has notorious pit- falls: mock-period dialogue, contrived bawdiness, over-exotic decor, and indeed the extensive research guaranteed by......

Transcending A Small World

Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy LIFE REGAINED: DIARIES, 1970-72 by Frances Partridge Weidenfeld, £18.99, pp. 288 T wo years ago the writer Paul Binding decided to take 'English Diaries'......