Posted by Owen Roberts on January 16, 2007 at 16:44:15 from 195.92.67.65 user OwenRoberts.
In Reply to: Re: The Untold Stories, The River posted by PeterH on January 16, 2007 at 15:28:12:
As AR scrapped all his early drafts of his books it is impossible to ascertain whether Evgenia’s criticism was justified. I suspect that her imput although regarded as negative did cause a rethink and we all pleased with the final product.
PeterH refers to the reassessment by Diane James in the current MM. I agree that this was long overdue and sheds new light on what her character and contribution may have been. However I do feel that if she had been really supportive, AR would not have needed to seek advice from many others.
However I think that towards the end of his life, having been weakened by continual illness, she did become a parallel to Rumpole's "She who must be obeyed". But this attitude did not affect his writing as he had already finished by then.
This does not disregard the considerable support she must have given to AR throughout their life together nursing him through his many medical problems.