memoirs

Neither can most memoirs, but, at 85 years, Atwood’s valediction to readers shares “many strange happenings, incidents of malice, odd dreams, conversations, joyful moments, ghosts, stupid mistakes, and catastrophes.”

Away from her philanthropy, Ms Ferguson has various business ventures, and has written several children's books, non-fiction about Queen Victoria, and her own memoirs.

Messrs. Morel and White gather Douglass’s reflections on Lincoln—drawn from speeches, articles, letters and memoirs—to reveal a layered portrait of their relationship.

In 2004 she published her memoirs Annabel: An Unconventional Life, where she recalled her aristocratic childhood, glamorous social life in 1960s Swinging London to her role as matriarch and grandmother.

But in her four memoirs, she safely bared all in print, openly confronting her harsh inner critic, her battle with bulimia, and — yes, Alvy — her musings on death.