Deep Romantic Chasm: Diaries, 1979-1981 - Tapa dura

The eighth volume of James Lees-Milne's diaries, this volume differs from previous collections in that they show Lees-Milne developing an overwhelming tendresse for a much younger man. He records the doubt, happiness, guilt and other turbulence that accompany an emotion he did not expect to feel again. This is also the first volume to be edited not by the diarist himself but by his literary executor - the younger man with whom Lees-Milne fell so deeply in love.

James Lees-Milne died in 1997. Once Country Houses Secretary of the National Trust, he is now best known for his memoirs and diaries, described by Jeremy Lewis as second to none in their comicality, rueful self-knowledge and feline observations.