First published in French in 1974 under the title 'Souvenirs Pieux', DEAR DEPARTED is the first volume of a trilogy by Marguerite Yourcenar, one of the most celebrated French writers of the century, devoted to her own origins and background. Yourcenar describes the events surrounding her birth in 1903, then takes us back through the centuries to meet her mother's forebears: soldiers, essayists, idealists, heroines, even ambassadors. Throughout, the history of the family serves as a window on the history of a rapidly-changing Europe.Using memoirs, letters and momentos, Yourcenar richly evokes both the larger events on the European stage and the rhythms and textures of everyday existence. Though rarely visible, Yourcenar is everywhere present, her perceptions rendered in her unmistakable voice. The book is a tour-de-force of historical and literary imagination.
- ISBN10 0856281867
- ISBN13 9780856281860
- Publish Date 2 April 1992 (first published 1 January 1992)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 31 March 2007
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Aidan Ellis Publishing
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 352
- Language English