That’s not some sparkling post-modern observation: it’s a genuine risk.Īll the sentences, events, perceptions, shocks, humour and fineness of writing belong to the diarist, but the stories are mine. It’s quite possible that these non-fiction stories, taken word for word from a collection of 148 anonymous diaries found in a skip in 2001, have nothing at all to do with the diarist’s life.

(The first eight stories, published in The Paris Review, were anthologised in The Best American Non-Required Reading).įeel pretty sure I’ll have something published sometime in my lifetime - is inevitable really, even if hard won. Love, Death & Trousers is a collection of fifty exquisite, deeply personal short stories extracted from the diaries by Laura and Masters. But until now the million-plus words of Laura’s diaries haven’t been available to read. The story of his pursuit and discovery was told in his book, A Discarded Life. In 2016, she was tracked down by the award-winning investigative journalist, Alexander Masters, after 148 of her anonymous journals were rescued from a skip. She was also funny, self-sacrificially kind, and a profound observer of loneliness and disappointment. On several occasions during her decades of service, she grabbed a knife and was vicious to the old man’s furniture. She barely knew how to cook and had no time for tidiness.

Laura Francis, now 81 and one of the most prolific and eccentric diarists in history, was a live-in companion and domestic servant to an ageing professor of IT - ‘like his wife in every respect except the sex (thank goodness)’.

No particular thoughts, except perhaps I’d like to change my life. A nice day in general just enjoying myself.

Alexander masters books