The collection presents edited passages from a writer's diaries and other writings, tracing childhood and family background, formative friendships, and domestic life alongside literary pursuits. Vignettes depict salon and theatrical society, relationships with mentors and fellow authors, and practical details of publishing and reception of her early novel. The editor arranges memoir, correspondence, and anecdote to illuminate personal temperament, artistic ambition, and the social networks of London literary life in which the author moved.