But so much of Howard's fascinating life has been reorganised into fiction, it must have been harder for her than for most people to disorganise it into memoir. Some of the most painful episodes have gone straight into novels, notably, and most rapidly, her deception by a con-man that became the basis of her latest novel, Falling, composed almost before the events were over. Her candour and honesty are impressive, especially about the ageing process, illness and loneliness, but even more impressive is her instinct to make something of all her experience, however horrible, to be always busy building a raft from the wreckage.
