['I write it as rapidly as I can, with my head full of Marcel': Pamela Hansford Johnson, writer and playwright.] Autograph Letter Signed to V. H. Collins, discussing her Proust-inspired BBC radio play 'Madame de Charlus'.

An interesting letter, in which Johnson discusses her writing practice. See her entry and that of her husband in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Vere Henry Collins (1872-1966), was an author and grammatical stickler. 2pp, 12mo. 27 lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight rust spotting from a paperclip. Folded twice for postage. On the topic of ‘Madame de Charlus’, one of the ‘Six Proust Reconstructions’ - plays by Johnson inspired by the work of Marcel Proust - just broadcast on the BBC Third Programme, she thanks him for his ‘most kind & pleasing letter’. She is ‘delighted to know’ that he was pleased with the play, and ‘most interested to know of your wife’s publication, which I shall try to obtain through the London Library’. She continues: ‘I must not claim much for my prose in my Proust reconstruction, as it is, of course, pastiche: I write it as rapidly as I can, with my head full of Marcel, & hope that it will catch the spirit’. She hopes to hear Max Beerbohm’s radio talk when it is repeated. She ends with renewed thanks for giving her so much pleasure by writing to her. Postscript: ‘My last two books were An Impossible Marriage & Catherine Carter (both published by Macmillan. An Avenue of Stone & A Summer to Decide, belonging to a trilogy, are obtainable in Penguin Books.’