Now in one volume: Three exquisite meditations on nature, healing, and the pleasures of the solitary life from a New York Times –bestselling author.In a long life spent recording her personal observations, poet, novelist, and memoirist May Sarton redefined the journal as a literary form. This extraordinary volume collects three of her most beloved works.Journal of a Solitude: Sarton's bestselling memoir ch...

Winner of the American Book Award: May Sarton's honest and engrossing journal of her seventieth year, spent living and working on the Maine coast.May Sarton's journals are a captivating look at a rich artistic life. In this, her ode to aging, she savors the daily pleasures of tending to her garden, caring for her dogs, and entertaining guests at her beloved Maine home by the sea. Her reminiscences are raw, and her observations are infused with the poetic candor for ...

In this poignant novel by a New York Times–bestselling author, a dying woman looks back on the great relationships of her life.When she learns that she is dying, Laura Spelman vows to spend her final year only on what matters most. As she quickly realizes, this means coming to terms with her most fruitful and important bonds—her "real connections"—all of which have been with women. From her tempestuous daughter and beloved aunt, to a promising lesbian write...

Three luminous novels from a New York Times–bestselling author and National Book Award finalist whose "prose leaves compelling echoes in one's mind" ( The New York Times Book Review).Throughout her long and acclaimed career, May Sarton refused to be categorized. As a memoirist, poet, and novelist, she broke new ground by openly exploring homosexuality, gender inequality, and other once taboo social issues. Gathered here in one volume are three of ...

The poet and author's "beautiful . . . wise and warm" journal of time spent in her New Hampshire home alone with her garden, her books, the seasons, and herself (Eugenia Thornton, Cleveland Plain Dealer )."Loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is richness of self." —May SartonMay Sarton's parrot chatters away as Sarton looks out the window at the rain and contemplates returning to her "real" life—not friends,...

The author's tribute to the 18th-century New England farmhouse she called home: "[A] tender and often poignant book by a woman of many insights" ( The New York Times Book Review).In Plant Dreaming Deep, Sarton shares an intensely personal account of transforming a house into a home. She begins with an introduction to the enchanting village of Nelson, where she first meets her house. Sarton finds she must "dream the house alive" inside herself befor...

An affecting diary of one year's hardships and healing, by one of the twentieth century's most extraordinary memoiristsFor decades, readers have celebrated May Sarton's journals for their candid look at relationships, success and failure, communion with nature, and the curious stages of aging. In Recovering, Sarton focuses on her sixty-sixth year—one marked by the turmoil of a mastectomy, the end of a treasured relationship, and the loneliness that visits a...

Three compelling volumes of poetry from a feminist icon, poet, and author of the groundbreaking novel Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing.A Durable Fire: This collection borrows its title from Sir Walter Raleigh, who wrote, "Love is a durable fire / In the mind ever burning." It is a fitting sentiment for a collection on solitude, wherein the author finds herself full of emotion even in seclusion. A Durable Fire is a transformative wo...

May Sarton's powerful and profound novel of an extraordinary life, and of one woman's efforts to preserve the force and vitality of her experiences on the pages of a bookFor the second time in my life—and I am now seventy—I am embarking on an effort which may well come to nothing but which has possessed my mind, haunts, and will not let me sleep.From her opening statement, Cam, the narrator of The Magnificent Spinster, declares her grand in...

A splendidly edited anthology of the greatest poems of one of America's finest writersFrom the very beginning of May Sarton's career, in her fiction, memoir, and poetry, her work has been touched by a deep sense of order. The careful structure of her work provides an elegant backdrop against which her emotions are free to unfold, rising up through the cracks and fissures of her poems' architecture only to pass through and disappear like a summer thunderstorm. The au...

Three celebrated volumes of verse from a feminist icon, poet, and author of the groundbreaking novel Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing.Letters from Maine: A rugged coastline provides a stark background for Sarton's images of a tragically brief love. With vulnerability and emotional depth, she explores the willingness to devote everything to a new love, as well as the despair at the memory of what is left over when it fades.Inner ...

A delightful, whimsical tale-one of the most popular books for cat lovers ever written. The cat Tom has grown tired of his vagabond lifestyle, and he concludes that there might be some appeal in giving up the freedom of street life for a loving home. It will take just the right human companion, however, to make his transformation from Cat About Town to genuine Fur Person possible. Sarton's book is one of the most beloved stories ever written about the joys and tribulations inherent in shar...