This image is the cover for the book Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers, Volume II, The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers

Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers, Volume II, The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers

This second volume of Dorothy L. Sayers covers the seven years in which the greatest detective novelist of the golden age--and the creator of Lord Peter Wimsey--turns away from mystery writing to become a playwright and, in turn, a controversial figure.

Accused on the one hand of blasphemy, acclaimed on the other as one of the most influential lay theologians of her time, she found herself drawn into a vast network of correspondence, dealing with a wide range of social concerns.

These, after all, are the years of World War II, of air-raids, threats of invasion, rationing, lack of domestic help, congested travel, and blackouts. But there was no blackout in the creativity of Dorothy L. Sayers; in fact, this is the peak period f her creative endeavors: seventeen plays, several books, innumerable articles and talks--and hundreds of letters.

The letters reveal the context of her published words and send the reader back to them with new understanding. But the issues they raise are not merely those of her time; many are startlingly topical, even today.

The letters take us behind the scenes of her thinking, activity, and personal life. Here is an unknown Dorothy L. Sayers, whose influence on her contemporaries and beyond has yet to be measured. But at the same time, here is the Sayers whom we have always known and loved: witty, engaging, creative, passionate, committed.

Barbara Reynolds, Dorothy L. Sayers's acclaimed biographer, has selected and annotated these letters from the hundreds that Sayers wrote during one of the most fascinating times of her life.

Dorothy L. Sayers, Barbara Reynolds, P. D. James

Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957) was a British playwright, scholar, and acclaimed author of mysteries, best known for her books starring the gentleman sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. While working as an advertising copywriter, Sayers began writing Whose Body? (1923), the first Wimsey mystery, followed by ten sequels and several short stories. Sayers set the Wimsey novels between the two World Wars, giving them a realistic tone by incorporating details from contemporary issues such as advertising, women’s education, and veterans’ health. Sayers also wrote theological essays and criticism during and after World War II, and in 1949 published the first volume of a translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Although she considered this translation to be her best work, it is for her elegantly constructed detective fiction that Sayers remains best remembered.

St. Martin’s Press