For Sylvia Townsend Warner the diaries she kept from 1927 to 1978 became the equivalent of an intimate correspondent to whom she could describe and ponder the details of her life. From her thoughts on love, friendship, writing and death to the antics of her cats and her plans for her garden, she gives us a self-portrait replete with anecdotes and rich observation. Above all, her diaries are a poignant account of her great love affair with Valentine Ackland, an affair that brought both anguish and liberation.