Dorothy L. Sayers: Her Life and Soul

by Barbara Reynolds

Mystery writer Dorothy Sayers is loved and remembered, most notably, for the creation of sleuths Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. As this biography attests, Sayers was also one of the first women to be awarded a degree from Oxford, a playwright, and an essayist--but also a woman with personal joys and tragedies. Here, Reynolds, a close friend of Sayers, presents a convincing and balanced portrait of one of the 20th century's most brilliant, creative women. 30 b&w photos.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, British Literature, History, Mystery, Literature

398 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 1993

About the author

Barbara Reynolds (13 June 1914 – 29 April 2015) was an English scholar of Italian Studies, lexicographer and translator, wife of the philologist and translator Lewis Thorpe. She has written and edited several books concerning Dorothy Sayers and is president of the Dorothy L Sayers Society. She turned 100 in June 2014.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy L Sayers was a poet, novelist, playwright, philosopher and translator and she makes a fine subject for a biography. Barbara Reynolds knew Sayers well, edited collections of her letters and completed her translation of Dante's The Divine Comedy and she makes a most suitable biographer.

The biography relies heavily on Sayers' letters. This is a good thing, because the letters are marvellous: she wrote them from childhood till the end of her life and they are clever, witty and full of insight into Sayers the woman and Sayers the writer. I read the first volume of the letters - The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1899-1936: The Making of a Detective Novelist- shortly before commencing this book, so the letters of that period of Sayers' life were still fresh in my mind. For this reason I learned less from the early part of the biography than I otherwise would have. I prefer the letters to the biography - no one could write about Sayers' life quite as well as she did herself! However, I learned more about Sayers' life after 1936 and in particular about her religious-themed plays and other writings. That part of the biography has instilled in me the desire to read the second volume of Sayers' letters - The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1937-1943, From Novelist to Playwright- and some of her other works, notably The Mind of the Maker.

If I have any criticism of Reynolds' work, it is that I wish that she had a wider range of sources at her disposal. I particularly wish that she had related more about Sayers' son and his attitude towards his mother. But that's a relatively minor criticism in the scheme of things. Reynolds' biography of Sayers is well-written, well-organised and interesting. It confirms for my long-held view that Dorothy L Sayers is someone I would invite to one of those dinner parties I sometimes imagine: a dinner party to which I invite my favourite writers throughout the ages, just so that I could ask questions and listen to them talk. And it's pretty clear from Sayers' own writings and from this biography that Sayers would have plenty to say for herself. I, on the other and, would probably be too intimidated by her intellect and force of personality to say anything at all!

If you love Sayers' novels, then you will certainly find this biography worth reading.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Upon rereading all of the Lord Peter Wimsey novels, I decided that it was high time I read a biography of their author, Dorothy L. Sayers. I chose Barbara Reynolds's biography because it had gotten good reviews and because I knew that Reynolds was a friend of Sayers (whose translation of Dante's Divine Comedy Reynolds completed after Sayers died). After reading Reynolds's book, I think that Reynolds's closeness to Sayers was both a help and a hindrance to the biography.

Reynolds's narrative of Sayers's life is well-researched, working and quoting from many of Sayers's lively letters (I must track some of those down soon too). Her analyses of Sayers's work are thoughtful; I was particularly interested in the chapters about Sayers's religious writings, as I haven't read any of them. Presumably as a result of her friendship with Sayers, Reynolds is hesitant to criticize and is perhaps too defensive of Sayers at times; however, overall, Reynolds gives a vivid and perceptive portrait of Sayers's intense personality. I'd like to read other biographies of Sayers to see how they compare, but I'd certainly recommend this one.

[Matthew Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating study of a fascinating woman. This books is well-researched, carefully written and sympathetic to its subject.

I would say that it is also comprehensive, but I found myself wanting more information about Sayers' days in advertising (the background for "Murder Must Advertise") and her friendships with the Inklings C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien (not much shared here, made me wonder if there isn't much to the story or if it was laid out).

There are sections where I felt we were given too much information--I don't feel it's necessary or beneficial to have her sexual history and dirty laundry aired for the whole world. I wish I had skipped those chapters.

All in all, however, it is a workmanlike portrait of a unique woman, a gift to the church. DLS is one of my all time favorite authors. Lord Peter Wimsey is my all time favorite detective (yes, more than Sherlock Holmes), and the love story that evolves between Peter and Harriet Vane is the greatest love story in English literature (or, at least, my favorite). So, it's a pleasure to now know much more about Dorothy L. Sayers, her life and soul. Recommended.

[Karlyne Landrum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had this sitting on my desk for review for several months now because I wanted to take the time to make insightful comments and justify my 5 star rating. But if I wait for that time, I'll never get the rest of my garden planted or dinner made or kids played with. So, therefore, all I'll say is that this book makes me sad that I never knew Dorothy L. Sayers in the flesh and extremely happy that I know her through her books!

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great biography of an extraordinary writer, one who was of the same intellectual calibre as G K Chesterton - in fact she was perhaps a better writer because she gave more thought to what she wrote rather than letting it all pour out day by day (!)
Reynolds knew Sayers well in her later years, and so can give a first-hand picture of the real person. She also relies on innumerable letters from Sayers and to Sayers, and material that has been handed on through conversations with Sayers' friends.
There's so much good stuff in this book that I was disappointed to find I'd come to the end (not always easy to see in advance with a Kindle version). Sayers' thinking about writing, creativity, living, and Christianity was always on the button, and plenty of it is extracted in this book. Thank goodness for Kindle highlights!

[Richard Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting biography which perhaps dwells more on her earlier life than her maturity and there is in consequence an impression that the author wished to finish her off. There's not much on the decline of her marriage nor on the later Peter Wimsey books. Instead there is a great deal on her religious works. Worth reading but you are left feeling that there is more to know.

[Hilary (A Wytch's Book Review) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A biography of one of my favourite authors written by one who knew her, reading this gave me a great background understanding of Dorothy L Sayers and I am glad to have read it! I will re-read the Wimsey books with a greater understanding now.

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a comprehensive and compelling story of a brilliant and complicated woman. Certainly Dorothy L. Sayers is not easily contained or explained within the pages of a book, but Barbara Reynold’s has done an excellent job of capturing the creative essence of DLS.

Yes, I have been in a bit of an obsessive reading kick of Sayers’ mysteries, but it started with a shorter biographical vignette of her life and liveliness in “Square Hauntings” by Francesca Wade and led to this amazing biography.

Intriguing, detailed, complicated & delightful to the Sayers’ devotee!

It is as the subtitle claims a look at her “life and soul” touching on spiritual beliefs and struggles as well as interpretations of sacred Christian beliefs and misinterpretations. Recommended to those who want to dive deep into a life of a remarkable woman writer and grapple with complications and some brilliant chaos.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, simple overview of Sayers’ life and writing. Reynolds was a friend, and very interested in Sayers’ intellectual life. She is Also interested in righting any wrong/negative views of Sayers—when she brings in the phrase, “it has been suggested,” it usually means “though an idiot biographer says.”

So we get a rounded story of Sayers’ relationships (three rather unsatisfactory guys, there), her spiritual and intellectual interests (which intertwine), and her humor and wit, with very well-chosen quotations. Reynolds doesn’t shy away from discussing Sayers’ sexual experiences, her secret out-of-wedlock child, or her dogmatism in many things—but she does so without making Sayers out to be a pathetic/depressive, repressed/confused/messianic/priggish monster.

Though Reynolds obviously loves her, a reader can still see how one might dislike Sayers, while still respecting her and appreciating the quality of her mind and choices. This is actually a pretty startling achievement, since many idiot biographers seem to have failed in it.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating person Dorothy L Sayers was! This book showed her as a serious thinker from childhood. She was one of the first women to graduate from Oxford (where she met Vera Brittain) In addition to her wonderful Peter Wimsey books, she wrote theological books and did translations of the Song of Roland and Dante's Divine Comedy. Of special interest to me, she was also a musician. She played violin and viola at a professional level, as well as some piano. She sang in a Bach choir that performed the b minor Mass.

Sometimes I read a biography about an interesting person and think, well, they were a very talented person but I certainly wouldn't want to know them. (Like the Somerset Maugham bio I just finished). But this biography made me wish I could have known Sayers. She was incredibly gifted and sounded like a wonderful person. She pursued her intellectual goals until the day she died.

[Colin Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written and easy to read book of Sayers life and writing as may be expected by an academic,Dr.Barbara Reynolds, who had become a friend of Sayers after the war. A strange life, quite inhibited sexually, with her having an illegitimate son who spent his life with Sayers aunt Ivy who fostered him. Sayers parents were always kept in the dark and possibly never knew his background. Her father appears to have supported her to quite late in life. The final section of the book is taken up with her religious writing and the translation of Dante, this seemed to be her life after the war and as her marital relationship deteriorated. Well worth a read by any Sayers fans.

[Lisa Dornell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look into the life of an equally fascinating woman. If you're a fan of Miss Sayers books, I highly recommend this for insights into the real-life persons behind such characters as Lord Peter, Harriet Vane, and Bunter. Plus a more than unusually frank look at her personal life, her marriage, and her son. The author, Barbara Reynolds, was a friend of Miss Sayers and that, perhaps, explains the information that I haven't seen elsewhere.

[Regine Haensel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. It gave me a greater appreciation of her life and work, and how hard it was for her to be a writer and support herself in the early days. Also, I learned things about her life that I did not know before -- that she had a son for example. Also that she worked in advertising, which explains why Murder Must Advertise is such a good book -- I worked in advertising, too and even in the present day the book was true to life in my experience (minus the murder).

[HerbieGrandma · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 because I did not enjoy this writer. Sayers was very interesting.

[Susan A · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an insightful and thoughtful presentation that worked wonderfully well with rereading Dorothy L. Sayers' books in the order that they were written. I've long (really long) been a fan of Sayers and the deeper understanding her life, passions and scholarship provided by Ms Reynolds was an unexpected gift. I've even been emboldened to go beyond her detective novels to take a stab at The Mind of the Maker with great hopes that I'll be able to finish it.

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A close friend of mystery novelist Dorothy Sayers tells her story and ties Sayers's books to autobiographical details.

Sayers was the daughter of a country clergyman, who went to Somerville College, the second woman's college permitted at Oxford, only 45 years after it was established. She worked in the nascent advertising business, taught school, and finally settled upon writing mysteries. Like her famous creation Harriet Vane, she "lived in sin" with a man who claimed to oppose marriage on philosophical grounds but was actually testing her and then wanted to marry her. Like Harriet, she refused him. But unlike Harriet, Sayers then had a rebound affair which resulted in an illegitimate son. She concealed his existence, having him raised by others until he was of school age and she got married and could "adopt" him. She posed to him as "Cousin Dorothy," though apparently he always suspected the truth. Sayers's mystery novels were at least in part sheer moneymaking schemes, fueled by the need to support her son, and when she had made enough money through them, she quit writing mysteries, went back to her scholarly roots to study Dante, and then became quite religious and wrote about Anglican philosophy. Her marriage was not very successful as her husband appears to have resented her worldly success. He dragged his feet about the "adoption" of her son. And was in general a drag, at least from the point of view of the friend/author writing the book.

Objectivity is always an issue when a friend writes a biography, and this author is a bit of an apologist for Sayers; she puts the best possible spin on Sayers's behavior to her son and is in much sympathy with Sayers's turn to religion after the success of her mystery series whereas most of us Sayers fans regard that as a bit of a tragedy. But since I was looking for keys to the "roman a clef" aspect of her novels for my presentation to my mystery book club, the book was perfect for my purposes.

[Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Sayer's books and aspects of her life were featured in Square Haunting by Francesca Wade and I'm also reading Mutual Admiration Society by Mo Moulton in which she discusses how Sayers and her Oxford circle had an influence on women's lives.

This book is somewhat more scholarly and not such a good read as the books mentioned above but it does give a very clear depiction of what drove and influenced Sayer's writing and her views on family, relationships, sex, religion and time at Oxford. It shows how difficult it has been, and continues to be, for women to be in a relationship and pursue a career or vocation, to the extent they may want or need to. I'm aware of her Lord Peter Wimsey novels and these give the reader a very detailed knowledge of the advertising industry, an Oxford women's college, train timetables in Galloway etc but was unaware of her radio programmes The Man Born to be King which re-told the gospels in a way relevant to the times. She also translated Dante all the while managing her relations and later a husband with long term health problems is awe inspiring. If you want to get to grips with what she achieved and her thinking which is made very clear from the inclusion of lots of sections from her letters this book is invaluable. All I can say is What a Woman!

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dorothy Sayers was a real character. There was much more to her than a mere writer of whizzy-yet-deep detective fiction in the Golden Age. Profound theological writings, thoughts on the artist's craft, and well-received "religious" plays, stage and radio, not to mention all that advertising copy, and reams of letters to friends and strangers alike. And of course there was much more to her than a mere writer - she was a superb violinist (apparently), full of energy, full of opinion, extremely unconventional (and largely got away with it) and not without her share of illnesses and sorrows in her closest relationships (where else? Stressful "love" affairs before marriage, one of which produced a son who was brought up in a friend's unofficial foster home ignorant of his parentage for most of his childhood, then a marriage whose simple happiness lasted only as long as her husband's health...).

This biography is a little twee (to be fair, the precocious only child of a rural clergyman rather demands that treatment), and is obviously the work of a friend. However, we don't need any more narkiness, needling, condescension or biting social critique... at least not in every book we read.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography was written by someone who knew Sayers personally. While I found it readable and informative, I think Reynolds personal contact with Sayers made the book weaker, in that she was reluctant to consider any of Sayers' actions in a poor light. For example, when the unmarried Sayers had a child, I can understand why she needed to leave the baby with relatives to raise, but it is harder to understand why she later married, planning to adopt the child, but then took years to get round to it. Also, why she spend so many of her holidays away from the child.

Reynolds often shifts between past to present tense, especially in the early stages of the book, which I found distracting. I also felt she was on weak ground when she kept assuming that everything in Sayers' fiction had its roots in real life - for example, she tells us that we 'know' what Sayers' kitchen in her new flat looked like because there is a description of a kitchen in the flat of a character in one of her short stories! I also found it strange that Reynolds has so little to say about the publication and public reception of Sayers' work - she mentions the publication of the novels, but we have no sense of how well they were received or if they were reviewed. It seems a very strange omission.

I found my copy of this book in a charity shop for £1 so I think I've had value for money. But I'd be interested to compare it with a more recent biography.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's rare that I wish a book shorter--especially if its subject is something that interests me. But I found Reynolds' writing style to be excessively chatty, with words spilled indiscriminately over the pages. It's a book that is incredibly easy to skim, even if you don't mean to, because of the sheer volume of extraneous words. Reynolds dives deeply into subjects that perhaps don't need such a thorough treatment (there's a whooooole lot of discussion of Sayers' views of birth control) and a skimming over of other, perhaps more relevant information.

Further complicating my enjoyment of the book is the fact that, while I love many of Sayers' books, in many ways, it is hard to like her as a person. Her son (who she hid from the world, having a cousin raise him and then later pretending to adopt him) said as an old man that "she did the best she could", but given the horrible life choices that led to her most challenging circumstances, as well as the selfish solutions she devised to let her live as unencumbered by responsibility as possible, I have a lot more sympathy for people like her son and her cousin than I do for her. People are messy and complicated, but it's always a little bit of a letdown to discover someone whose work you respect left a lot of carnage in their wake in their personal life.

[Holly Beaumont · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting examination of the life and works of Dorothy L. Sayers. With the revised foreword, it reads a little backwards - which is a shame, as the author has otherwise taken care over the book's structure. All I knew of Dorothy L. Sayers beforehand was that she was the author of the Lord Peter Wimsey detective stories, which have endured more in popular culture than her religious works. This biography introduced me to Dorothy L. Sayers the woman and the intellectual. She made some interesting observations about the spirituality of creativity and was clearly a woman determined to live her best, most fulfilling life.

"The literature of power... does not tell us anything we didn't know before but it works upon the great emotional forces which are in us already, and by suggestion and illusion and by the splendour of noble sound it stirs us up to respond to its stimulus, so that we really feel greater, wiser, more enthusiastic and altogether bigger people, just in the same way that great music does." Dorothy. L. Sayers

[Andrew Darling · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is just possible there is a half-decent book buried in these 398 pages, but alas I shall never know. I found it impossible to get beyond the first couple of chapters. The fault may be as much mine as the author's, inasmuch as I admit I am a pedant about grammar; but to persevere through prose in which the writer never knows from one sentence to the next which tense to employ is more than I can do. For example: 'Dorothy disliked exams though she knew how to do well in them. To help her through "Smalls" she asks her father to send her a box of cigarettes.' This pattern, randomly switching from the present to the past tense in consecutive sentences, is repeated ad nauseam in every page through which I managed to struggle. OK - it says as much about me as it does about Barbara Reynolds; but a reader's enjoyment of a book should not be marred by the ineptitude of the author or the carelessness of its editors.

[Jillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really warmed to this biography. It is some years since I read (and reread several times) her detective fiction and some of her essays. I liked the way Reynolds organised this biography, working chronologically, but identifying preoccupations and developing trends and themes. She manages to maintain a distance and analysis from her privileged position of long-term friend and makes the most of her personal knowledge without losing her professional judgement. Her source material is impressive and used to good effect.

Much of the culture and values in which she lived, studied and worked is familiar to me from my intense reading, years ago, of C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, G.K. Chesterton and T.S Eliot. I enjoyed her links to those writers. Their arguments, philosophies and theologies are familiar and comfortable. I very much enjoyed her Idea, Energy, Power model of the Trinity.

[Lelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s fascinating to see how Dorothy L. Sayers crafts murder mysteries and brings Christian theology to life. Reynolds’ focus, especially for the last half of the book, is definitely on Sayers’ intellectual pursuits - there’s no delving into what must have been a difficult marriage after Mac’s physical and mental health began to suffer. I think Sayers would appreciate the fact that her private married life was not laid bare, but I would have enjoyed a little more insight into the private Dorothy. I imagine writing a biography requires maintaining a difficult balance between the outer and inner life and the daily minutia vs the overarching themes. I would say this one erred on the side of outer life and grand themes.

[Dave Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wimsey novels are one of my guilty pleasures. Sayers is a far better writer than most mystery authors. Here we see the other side of her life too, and she seems to have got into elaborate contortions over things like the Christian Trinity. You may as well devote academic attention to the rules of alignment in Dungeons & Dragons, as far as I can see. She loathes rationalists and freethinkers (as she obviously would, given her religious convictions) and also socialists. Anybody who thinks we might improve the lot of humanity here on Earth, basically, because that might weaken the necessity to go along with all the high church malarkey she's into. I did root for her in the squabble with the BBC, and it was amusing to see that BBC execs have always been bastards.

[Susan Ridley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very thoughtful biography of a writer I have long enjoyed and admired. She proves to be a more complex person than I had realized. It took me quite some time to work my way through the last chapters on her development as a writer on religious matters and a translator of Dante, but I am glad I persevered. This addresses the questions of why Sayers turned from writing popular detective stories to Christian apologetics and how she felt about this change. I began reading this book to find out more about Sayers activities during World War II, and I got more than I expected. I will be a long time digesting its contents.

[Ian Carmichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive exploration of Ms Sayers' life and thought - indeed, life and soul as the subtitle has it. I was most interested, captured - in fact, by the final few chapters which gave a very detailed analysis of Dorothy's theological reflections and trenchant observations about the misdirection of the 1950s Church of England - still so applicable to the pronouncements of the conservative church in modern public square.
It was a long read - I read the Kindle copy on my 'phone in waiting moments - probably over four or so years. But it was always rewarding. Warmly recommended.

[Chris Harrison · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a great read, unless you are a fan.

I have never read any of DLS's books. They may be good, I don't know and this Biography is no help. It's one of those that is simply a Time-Line narrative, bereft of insight. It's the 'she did this, on this date, then went to see this person'. A waste of nearly £8 for me. I deleted the book at 20%. It told me nothing and quite frankly, extensive quotes from letters is just lazy.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author was a friend of Dorothy Sayers and also published four volumes of Sayers’ letters. There is a lot of love in this biography and a lot of valuable information, including sensitive treatments of difficult subjects like Dorothy’s relationship with her son born out of wedlock. One regret: Dorothy’s last years are treated very briefly because Reynolds spent a lot of time on that period in another book she published on Dorothy’s love of Dante.

[Caryatid · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I said this book was a load of fiction I'd not be far off. Lifting whole tracts from an author's works in order to analyse her, her friends and relatives motives and emotions for various actions throughout their lives is certainly a convenient way of writing a book and satisfying a publishers requirement for a certain number of pages. It's even worse when I've already read the books referred to and have no wish to reread.