Private lives, public stories

A really interesting and thoughtful essay in the Guardian by Karen Christensen, who helped Valerie Eliot prepare her dead husband's letters for publication, and writes now about the tension between the need for privacy and the obligation to readers ("I saw a small boxed advertisement in the Times. 'Experienced part-time secretary required for literary estate in Kensington. Word processing experience an advantage.' I was surprised to receive a telephone call, only a day or two after I'd put my CV into the post, asking me to come to meet Mrs TS Eliot").