I have long loved Penelope Fitzgerald, ever since falling for her novels The Gate of Angels and The Blue Flower many years ago. The Gate of Angels remains in my mind a paragon for the acute simplicity of its ending–few novels close with that sort of grace.

It was a pleasure then to review Hermione Lee’s new biography of her for Slate Books.

On November 19th, I’ll be participating in a Penelope Fitzgerald event at the Heyman Center for the Humanities, a conversation about her work with Ellis Avery, Margot Livesey, and Hermione Lee. Please join us.