The journalist Hunter Davies was married to the novelist Margaret Forster for over fifty years until her death. In Letters to Margaret he continues his habit of communicating with his wife about his life and the things that have happened to him during the day, only now he can only write to her and she can’t reply. I am a great admirer of the writing of Margaret Forster (you can read about her biography in this review) and especially her family memoir Hidden Lives which I review here. I have also read many of the books which Hunter Davies has written – see a review of one here. It felt, therefore, that I was learning more about people who were already known to me when I read this book – I am not sure what it would feel like to other people who haven’t read as many of their books.
In these letters to his late wife the author tells her about what is going on his life and especially his experience of aging – he is in his late eighties when writing. He details his health scares and a couple of operations he has. He talks about his writing and book events that he attended. He reminds her of things that happened during the past. He writes of his day-to-day activities in London and decisions he makes about their holiday homes in the Lake District and the Caribbean. This is all told in an amusing and straightforward manner and it is interesting to share in the things which he finds important to communicate.
The main focus of the book, however, is the author’s need for people, and especially a companion with whom to share his days and to accompany him on holiday – he’s not looking for love or another wife but for a female friend. He is lonely and seeks a woman with whom he can enjoy himself, and he is clear that he is looking for a physical relationship as well as someone to keep him company. He uses Internet dating to find the person that he can spend time with and this book contains the ups and downs of that way of doing things. Some of this is very funny but it is also a little sad in places and the author is honest about his loneliness.
This is not a very deep book but it is powerful because the author is writing from the heart about his situation and how he feels, and is honest about his wish to have a friend as well as the difficulties of finding himself alone and in increasingly failing help. I found this quite moving.
Anne Is Reading 