I have a feeling I might have read this biography of Dorothy L. Sayers before -- I think I borrowed it from the Stockbridge Library in Edinburgh in 1991, I'm sure I remember reading it in Jo and Alyson's flat in East Claremont St. Anyway, I had forgotten almost everything except the rather astonishing fact that she had a son in 1924, out of wedlock, telling no one. Fortunately she was able to foster the baby with her discreet cousin Ivy, who did this for a living, and was able to keep in contact with her son and support him for his entire childhood, until she 'adopted' him at the age of about eleven. He suspected that she was his biological mother but was not able to confirm this until after her death. (Also, apparently adoption as we know it was not legal in the UK until 1926! How extraordinary.)
Barbara Reynolds focuses a lot on Sayers' religious work and spiritual philosophy, which is of less interest to me than her detective fiction, so I skimmed over the last section of this book fairly quickly. I am intrigued to find her radio plays, The Man Born to Be King, which at the time were a revelation in their realistic presentation of Jesus' life. Something I'd forgotten was that Sayers pronounced her name 'Sairs' and strongly disliked the pronounciation SAY-ers, which is of course how I've said it my whole life. Whoops. Sorry, Dorothy.
I don't think Dorothy Sayers and I would have agreed on much, but she had a brave, rich and resourceful life and I celebrate her.
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