Bedford had a fascinating story to tell, but her writing style is annoying. If only someone else had written it! ( )

Erinnerungen einer Europäerin

Bedford led a fascinating life living among such luminaries as Aldous Huxley, Brian Howard and the German literary refugees that flocked to southern France just before WW II. While evocative, I wanted to learn more about her and the people around her. I found annoying (and rather coy) her references to previous books and people whom she assumes we will identify even though she won't name them. I also found annoying the repetitive sentence structure (her writing is probably celebrated for its lyric qualities!) and the sentences so allusive that they didn't quite make sense. Too bad, because the life here has been deeply experienced and unlike that of anyone I might meet outside of the pages of a book. ( )

a very non traditional auto biography. but very interesting. ( )

While slightly disjointed at times, this is a fascinating memoir. Bedford's portrait of France's expat literary world in the buildup to WWII was the most interesting part of the book for me, but I found her discussion of her development as a writer quite interesting as well. ( )