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Biographer and critic Dame Hermione Lee uncovers the writing, life and secret self of one of the most mysterious and intriguing English writers of the 20th century, Penelope Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald went from a life of teaching and obscurity to a period of great renown. She was not published until she was 60 and did not achieve fame until 80; won the Booker with her novel, Offshore; and her final work, The Blue Flower, was acclaimed as a work of genius. She came from a demanding and intellectual family, taught for long periods, worked in a bookshop, and at one time was living on a houseboat in Battersea. Her experiences were at the heart of many of her earlier novels.

Lee is president of Wolfson College, Oxford. Her previous books include the acclaimed biographies, Virginia Woolf, and Edith Wharton.