Ariel

Jan Morris is one of the great British writers of the post-war era. Soldier, journalist, writer about places, elegist of the British Empire, novelist, she is best known to many for her candid memoir <i>Conundrum</i>, which described the gender reassignment operation she underwent in 1972. But, as <i>Ariel</i> demonstrates, this is just one of the many remarkable facts about her life. Derek Johns was Jan Morris's literary agent for twenty years, and <i>Ariel</i> is a literary life, an appreciation of the work and achievements of someone who besides being a delightful writer is known to many as a generous, affectionate, witty and irreverent friend. <b></b>