A really very interesting biography of Katherine Mansfield - certainly far more enjoyable than the Journal by KM that I slogged through a few weeks back. It left me with a very clear picture of Mansfield's personality, which is one of the things I want most from a bio so thumbs up there.

Tomalin is chatty and opinionated in her discussion of Mansfield's life, and she doesn't flinch from her subject's more negative characteristics and behaviour. As a reader, this makes any biography far more enjoyable - reading about a paragon can be so tiresome! Mansfield is very far from a paragon - but she is interesting to read about. Recommended.