The Presence - by Dannie Abse (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Introduced by Jasmine Donahaye Several months after the death of poet Dannie Abse's wife, Joan, in a car accident, he began to write a diary which is both a record of present grief and a portrait of a marriage that lasted more than fifty years. It is an extraordinary document, painful but celebratory, funny yet often tragic, bursting with joy as well as sorrow and full of a deep understanding of what it means to be human.

About the Author

Dannie Abse was born in Cardiff in 1923. He began his medical studies at the Welsh National School of Medicine and qualified as a doctor from Westminster Hospital, London in 1950. While still a student his first book of poems was published and his first play performed. He married Joan Mercer in 1951. She had been an economics student at the London School of Economics and together in a long and happy marriage they raised three children, Susanna, Keren and David. Joan would also develop a career as a writer.