The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers, Volume II

Book excerpt: This second volume of Dorothy L. Sayers covers the seven years in which the greatest detective novelist of the golden age--and the creator of Lord Peter Wimsey--turns away from mystery writing to become a playwright and, in turn, a controversial figure. Accused on the one hand of blasphemy, acclaimed on the other as one of the most influential lay theologians of her time, she found herself drawn into a vast network of correspondence, dealing with a wide range of social concerns. These, after all, are the years of World War II, of air-raids, threats of invasion, rationing, lack of domestic help, congested travel, and blackouts. But there was no blackout in the creativity of Dorothy L. Sayers; in fact, this is the peak period f her creative endeavors: seventeen plays, several books, innumerable articles and talks--and hundreds of letters. The letters reveal the context of her published words and send the reader back to them with new understanding. But the issues they raise are not merely those of her time; many are startlingly topical, even today. The letters take us behind the scenes of her thinking, activity, and personal life. Here is an unknown Dorothy L. Sayers, whose influence on her contemporaries and beyond has yet to be measured. But at the same time, here is the Sayers whom we have always known and loved: witty, engaging, creative, passionate, committed. Barbara Reynolds, Dorothy L. Sayers's acclaimed biographer, has selected and annotated these letters from the hundreds that Sayers wrote during one of the most fascinating times of her life.