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Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, 15 Farm Street, London W1 to May O’Brien. Kate is busy about future work, correcting the typescript of her novel [That Lady] and seeing publishers and agents. She conveys domestic and family news, particularly relating to her sister Clare.

Letter from Kate O’Brien, University Women’s Club, 2 Audley Square, [London] W1 to Anne O’Mara. Kate apologises for not having written sooner, but she has lost her reading glasses without which she is helpless. She is thinking about getting a flat as she must vacate her room at the club by the end of the month and Elizabeth Sprigg’s flat is full of relatives swept in from the war. She thanks Anne for the spiced beef and tin of soup, and is looking forward to a quiet Christmas with Clare.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Harcourt Cottage, North Leigh, Witney, Oxon to May O’Brien. Kate thanks May for her parcel. She talks of Clare’s forthcoming holiday in Ireland. Kate has no holiday plans, because she is too preoccupied with the book [The Last of Summer] to be in visiting mood.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Harcourt Cottage, North Leigh, Witney, Oxon to May O’Brien. Kate extends her condolences to May over the death of Kathleen O’Riordan. She is kept busy by various odd jobs, including bits of war work writing, which usually require travel, and finds it hard to finish her novel [The Last of Summer]. She also complains about not having to run her house without help and the increasing ration difficulties. She mentions Mary O’Neill, who is working near Reading and who is coming to see her.

Typed letter in French from Kate O’Brien, The Fort, Roundstone, county Galway, Ireland to Il Signor Fernando Sacerdote, La Borsa, Piazza di Pietra, Rome, Italy. She thanks Sacerdote for his kindness to her and Lorna Reynolds during their stay in Rome and requests permission for Anne and Stephen O’Mara to turn to him should they want to buy something to read. With an envelope.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Croyle, Cullompton, Devon to her aunt Fan Thornhill (Sister Mary Clare). Kate is sorry to hear that Fan has been very ill and wishes her a speedy recovery.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Harcourt Cottage to Clare O’Brien. Kate has to come to London to record a talk for a BBC series in which Irish writers talk of memories of their childhood. She complains about the post and discusses the war at length. She promises to cancel her trip to Illington if Clare is facing a lonely Christmas Day. She notes that her new novel will not come out until January and that she is already struggling with the next one. Two small sections have been removed from the first page by the censor.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, 88 Park Mansions, Knightsbridge, [London] SW1 to Anne, Stephen and Peter O’Mara. Kate thanks the family for their Christmas wishes and their present, which regrettably never arrived. She is sorry for the book tokens she keeps sending year after year, but in these complicated times her options are limited. She refers to business affairs, which she is reluctant to divulge in detail, but which will bring her to Ireland in March. She tells of her Christmas in Norfolk. She mentions Power O’Mara, with whom she has had a telephone conversation; and Mary [O’Neill] who continues to work as a draughtsman in a factory.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, 34 Beaufort Gardens, Brompton Road, [London] SW3 to Anne O’Mara. Kate has been receiving massage and exercise treatment and is feeling better. She has managed to find a flat through a friend in Mecklenburgh Square, in the location she wants, the size she wants and at rent she can afford, but she won’t be able to move in until July as it has to be repaired from war damage. She hopes to have begun another book before returning to Ireland. She relates that the American publishers have rejected the title That Lady and will publish the book under the title For One Sweet Grape instead. The end of the letter has been cut out.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, The Fort, [Roundstone, county Galway] to Anne O’Mara. Kate gives an account of the preparations for the arrival of her live-in housekeeper, Mrs O’Kelly, and of her gardening activities. She refers to Teresa of Avila, which is about to be published. She has typed out a list for the publishers of complimentary copies to be sent out, but regrets that Anne won’t receive hers on the day of publication. She asks for permission to come and spend her birthday at Strand House, and concludes with a lively account of the death and funeral of one of the village’s most outstanding characters, the butcher John de Courcey.