Dorothy L. Sayers: A Careless Rage for Life by David Coombes ~ 1992. This edition: Lion Publishing, 1992. Hardcover. 242 pages.
My rating: 7/10. Occasionally a bit hard going; the writing is workmanlike versus enthralling. The best biographies, in my opinion, are both.
*****
A balanced and thoughtful biography. I especially enjoyed the many lengthy excerpts from Sayers’ letters and writings.
I am a huge fan of Dorothy L. Sayers’ mysteries, which has made me continually eager to learn more about the author. My only regret with this book is that the Wimsey years are very much condensed into one small section, but, as the David Coombes emphasizes, this would be in line with how Sayers’ life was concerned with them, one short period with a long and productive literary period of various stage and religious projects after the mysteries made Sayers much more financially secure.
I would highly recommend this biography to those interested in Dorothy L. Sayers’ fascinating and ultimately tragic background; she was in many ways a woman who “had everything except what she most desired”, to paraphrase one of her own descriptions of Lord Peter.
Leaves & Pages 