May Sarton

A delightful, whimsical tale-one of the most popular books for cat lovers ever written.The cat Tom has grown tired of his vagabond lifestyle, and he concludes that there might be some appeal in giving up the freedom of street life for a loving home. It will take just the right human companion, however, to make his transformation from Cat About Town to genuine Fur Person possible. Sarton's book is one of the most beloved stories ever written about the joys and tribulations inherent in sharing one's life with a cat.

This enchanting story and classic of cat literature is drawn from the true adventures of Tom Jones, May Sarton’s own cat. Prior to making the author’s acquaintance, he is a fiercely independent, nameless Cat About Town. Growing tired of his vagabond lifestyle, however, he concludes that there might be some appeal in giving up his freedom for a home. Finally, a house materialises that does seem acceptable and so do the voices that inhabit it. It is here that he begins his transformation into a genuine Fur Person. Sarton’s book is one of the most beloved stories ever written about the joys and tribulations inherent in sharing one’s life with a cat. It is now reissued in a gorgeous edition featuring David Canright’s beautiful illustrations.

The Fur Person is a heartwarming and charming memoir by May Sarton, which tells the story of her relationship with a stray cat that she adopts and names Tom Jones. The book is divided into two parts, with the first part describing how Tom Jones comes into Sarton's life and how he adapts to his new home. The second part of the book is a collection of Tom Jones' adventures, including his encounters with other animals, his exploration of the neighborhood, and his interactions with Sarton and her friends.Throughout the book, Sarton writes in a gentle and affectionate tone, capturing the unique personality and quirks of Tom Jones. She also reflects on the joys and challenges of pet ownership, and how her relationship with Tom Jones has enriched her life.The Fur Person is a delightful read for animal lovers and anyone who has ever formed a special bond with a pet. It is a celebration of the joy and companionship that pets can bring into our lives, and a reminder of the importance of treating animals with kindness and respect.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

The Fur Person is a heartwarming and charming memoir by May Sarton, which tells the story of her relationship with a stray cat that she adopts and names Tom Jones. The book is divided into two parts, with the first part describing how Tom Jones comes into Sarton's life and how he adapts to his new home. The second part of the book is a collection of Tom Jones' adventures, including his encounters with other animals, his exploration of the neighborhood, and his interactions with Sarton and her friends.Throughout the book, Sarton writes in a gentle and affectionate tone, capturing the unique personality and quirks of Tom Jones. She also reflects on the joys and challenges of pet ownership, and how her relationship with Tom Jones has enriched her life.The Fur Person is a delightful read for animal lovers and anyone who has ever formed a special bond with a pet. It is a celebration of the joy and companionship that pets can bring into our lives, and a reminder of the importance of treating animals with kindness and respect.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

The "magnificent spinster" is Jane Reid, a teacher who became not only a revered role model but a dear friend to Cam, the narrator of this novel within a novel. After Jane's death, the accidental discovery of poems written by Cam in her youth to Jane prompts a flood of recollections--and frees Cam to imagine in fiction Jane's passionately vibrant life.

The engrossing drama begun in May Sarton: Selected Letters 1916–1954 culminates in this gathering of 200 quintessential letters, culled from thousands. Copiously annotated, they propel the reader with passionate immediacy through the rich years of this beloved author's maturity and world-wide fame, to her death. "Sarton is one of the great letter writers of our time," Library Journal affirmed of the first volume. And here once again we see her in every aspect: the hard-pressed writer, the tormented lover, at her fiercest and most fond; the friend, confidante and passionate traveler, intensely engaged by public issues, ceaselessly searching for the elusive muse which made poetry and the creative transformation of life possible. In addition to longtime friends and intimates familiar from Volume One—Louise Bogan, Eva Le Gallienne, Bill Brown, Muriel Rukeyser and the Huxleys—the more than 150 recipients in this volume include Robert Frost and Elizabeth Bowen, Carolyn Heilbrun and Doris Grumbach, Madeleine L'Engle, Pat Carroll, and Marianne Moore. "No topic escapes her," Susan Kenney wrote of the first volume, and in the breadth and amplitude of these vibrant missives to friends and strangers, poets and scientists, actors and scholars, teachers and editors from every corner of the States and throughout Europe, the reader will partake of her joys, and learn well her griefs; it is no coincidence she always capitalized Hell. Particularly rich are her letters to members of the religious community who were drawn to the spiritual center in her work; her magnificent letters of condolence; her fiery replies to critics; her trenchant, generous responses to the many young writers who touched her; and her life-enhancing responses to hordes of admirers. Here, too, we are privy to several intense love relationships, and live beside her through the landmark publications of Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing and her revolutionary Journal of a Solitude. We accompany her as she writes the celebrated lyric poems which, with missionary fervor, she brought alive in dynamic readings to standing-room-only audiences across America, as long as she could do so. And finally we are witness to the gradual diminishments of age as, with characteristic courage, she charges into her ninth decade, "ardent and alone." Selected Letters 1955–1995 offers new insights and throws fascinating sidelights on Sarton's multi-faceted character, presenting an awesome self-portrait—more revealing than anything yet published—of this truly singular woman who, faithful to her "vision of life"—and like the legendary phoenix which marks her grave —never ceased to be reborn over and over again. As critic William Drake put it, "May Sarton always seems to be speaking to each one of us personally, as if we were a friend." In this richly moving and nourishing collection—the capstone of her literary legacy—this unforgettable woman speaks to each of us, as to each correspondent, once again in her timeless voice. "Readers will find this volume a valuable companion to Sarton's other work; reading it put me back in touch with her keen intelligence, her restless but rich spirit, and I enjoyed it tremendously." —Eleanor Dwight, author of Edith Wharton: An Extraordinary Life "In a century of cruel inhumanity, 'life-enhancing' poet, novelist and journal-keeper May Sarton showed us, most of all, how to be human. . . . That is why we find in her a friend, and will keep rereading these thoughtful letters and her books for clues about the journey ahead." —Father John Dear, author of Living Peace "Those who know her journals will find here a Sarton willing to examine the underside of creativity, a Sarton who refuses to stay stuck in life or work. This book passes on that courage to readers." —Alexandra Johnson, author of Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal "A searingly honest self-portrait of a complex and many-sided woman. . . . What a feast!" —Dr. Claire Douglas, author of Translate This Darkness: The Life of Christiana Morgan, the Veiled Woman in Jung's Circle

May Sarton's love for Juliette Huxley, ignited that first moment she saw her in 1936, transcended sixty years of friendship, passion, rejection, silence, and reconciliation. The letters chart their meeting, May's affair with Juliette's husband Julian (brother of Aldous Huxley) before the war, her intense involvement with Juliette after the war, and the rich, ardent friendship that endured until Juliette's death. While May's intimate relationship with Julian was not a secret, May's more powerful romance with Juliette was. May's fiery passion was a seductive yet sometimes destructive force. Her feelings for and demands on Juliette were often overwhelming to them both. In fact, Juliette refused all contact with May for nearly twenty-five years. Their reconciliation, after Julian's death, wasn't so much a rekindling as it was a testament to the profound affinity between them. Theirs was a relationship rife with complications and misunderstandings but the deep love and compassion they shared for one another prevailed. Included in this book are Sarton's original drafts of an introduction to these letters.

Its central character is Edward Cavan, a brilliant English professor, who commits suicide. His death sets off a shock wave among Cavan's friends and changes things for some of them forever.

The book celebrates that time, marks its passing, and opens up the poetic vision it left behind. The poems speak of the permanence of the memory of love and of the flowering it brings. They also draw on the rich, sometimes harsh, beauty of nature and its solace.

May Sarton's sixty-sixth year, 1978-79, was a difficult time: a cherished relationship came to an end, she had a mastectomy, she fought against depression. But, she writes, "When there is personal darkness, when there is a pain to be overcome, when we are forced to renew ourselves against all the odds, the psychic energy required simply to survive has tremendous force." This journal tells how she drew on that force, and how her friendships, her love of the natural world, and her growing audience of devoted readers brought light to the shadows."

All her life, May Sarton carried on a voluminous private correspondence—with family, friends, and lovers. From the beginning, as these remarkable letters show, the essence of an extraordinary human being was present, her gifts ready to unfurl and mature. Fittingly, an early letter thanks parents for books. Later we enter the world of the theater, then years rich with study, travel, teaching, and the discipline of craft. Sarton's deep anguish as World War II approaches pervades many letters, but readers will also encounter the things that gave Sarton joy: her love of flowers, her affection for animals, her celebration of beauty in all its guises. As Sarton divides her time between America and Europe, in an era when ocean voyages were the norm, illustrious acquaintances and intimates are introduced, among them Eva Le Gallienne, Elizabeth Bowen, Virginia Woolf, Muriel Rukeyser, Julian and Juliette Huxley, and Louise Bogan. Always, Sarton's voice is clear and courageous, startlingly candid about her passions, her moods, and her vulnerabilities. Her words, seeming as fresh as when they were written, stand against the backdrop of the crucial events of the century as she invites old and new readers into her personal world.

Here are Sarton's observations and reflections, many of which came to her as if by magic during the small hours of the morning. Along with the daily events of writing a letter, appreciating her flowers, taking care of her car Pierrot, these poems wrestle with the larger questions of life and death, the difficulties and rewards of living alone.

When Laura Spelman, sixty, an editor at a Boston publishing house, learns that she has cancer and will not get well, her one wish is that she be allowed to die in her own way. She looks on this last illness as a journey during which she must reckon up he life - give up the nonessentials and concentrate on what she calls "the real connections." As the year unfolds, Laura realizes that for her the most significant connections have been - and are - with women: her brilliant and devastating mother, a difficult daughter, a lesbian writer she is advising, and most of all a woman friend she knew when was young.

May Sarton's eagerly awaited journals have recorded her life as a single, woman writer and, in later years, as a woman confronting old age. She completed this pilgrimage through her eighty-second year a few months before she died in 1995.

The poet-novelist describes her daily life in a graceful, eighteenth-century New Hampshire cottage

"A small, sophisticated, elegantly sentimental journey through a New Hampshire village summer. Our companions are an aging poet, who is sad because he can no longer write—he has lost the joy he used to have in simply being alive–and a young, mischievous female donkey, who is sad because she can't run and play—she has a touch of arthritis. . . . There is a moral, of course, but any moral looks dull next to the simple happiness of the old poet and his long-eared muse."—The New Yorker

Emotional and forthright, Anna battles against Ned's crippling reserve. In the clash of these two strong personalities, May Sarton explores the different ways that men and women express both anger and love.