Mrs Betjeman

.India, 1986. Leading a trekking party in her beloved Himalayas, seventy-six-year-old Penelope experiences a strange premonition. Feeling uncharacteristically fragile, she finds herself musing about her unconventional life, particularly her turbulent marriage to the poet John Betjeman."Did I choose well? How can one ever really know? By what yardstick does one measure the choices of a lifetime...?"Reluctant debutante, intrepid horsewoman, Catholic convert and accomplished travel writer, even as a girl Penelope was ahead of her time. Aged eighteen, she told a prospective suitor: "I want to study. I want to become an expert in Italian art. I want to have a job. And quite frankly, I'm not sure I'll make anyone a very good wife."Mary Alexander's compelling debut novel chronicles the life of the fascinating woman who was Mrs. Betjeman.