Literary Birthday – 19 September – Penelope Mortimer

Penelope Mortimer was born 19 September 1918, and died 19 October 1999.

Five Quotes

1. I began drinking because the thought that I was drinking gave me a kind of identity: each time I poured myself a brandy in the deserted afternoon I could say to myself ‘I am a woman who drinks’.
2. When I was fourteen I had the world at my feet but somebody didn’t do their job properly and allowed me to sin.
3. I was so grateful to anybody who loved me, that was the least I could do. I had a great longing to be loved.
4. One dreads the relentlessness of getting older and going gaga.
5. I have tried to be honest with you, although I suppose that you would really have been more interested in my not being honest. Some of these things happened, and some were dreams. They were all true, as I understood truth. They are all real, as I understood reality.

Penelope Mortimer was a British journalist, biographer, and novelist. She is the author of The Pumpkin Eater.

Source for Image: Fair Use  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Penelope_mortimer.jpg

 by Amanda Patterson

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