‘LADIES FIRST’ is the tradition, but this year they have been fashionably late. At the close of the year a bevy of delightful books by and about women have appeared. I must tip my hat to This Is My Story by Eleanor Roosevelt (which is reviewed earlier in these columns), an autobiography’ whose integrity and drive will more than compensate for its lack of style; to Madame Curie by Eve Curie, which promises to be the most admired biography of the winter: and to Pepita, a family portrait in which, despite much panoply’, V. Sackville-West introduces you to three women of idiosyncrasy and charm. Had they’ come earlier, I should have had time to do more than wish them ‘Merry Christmas.’
