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Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Harcourt Cottage, North Leigh, Witney, Oxfordshire to Anne O’Mara. Kate thanks Anne for her praises of the new book [The Land of Spices]. Having heard nothing from Ireland, she was afraid that nobody liked the book at all and that it had been banned. She talks about the origins of some of the characters, but adds that none of the nuns in the book was taken completely from any particular nun of her past as she never likes to take full characters from real life. She discusses the feedback the book has received and admits that some things in it she enjoyed writing about more than anything ever, as they came so easily out of the past.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien to Anne O’Mara. Kate encloses a letter from Aunt Fan (now not present). She regrets not having written, but she is alarmed at her slow progress with the new book [The Last of Summer], for which Heinemann are clamouring. She would have expected them to be merciful after the success of The Land of Spices, but they keep on bullying her. She is grateful for the lovely weather, which somehow makes the war news easier to take.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Harcourt Cottage, North Leigh, Witney, Oxon to Anne O’Mara. Kate thanks Anne for her cheque. She is sorry to hear of K[athleen] O’Riordan’s death. She discusses Maura Laverty and her new book, Never No More, which she recently reviewed for the Spectator.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Croyle, Cullompton, Devon to Anne O’Mara. Kate discusses books, including Never No More by Mary Laverty, A Farm on Lough Gur by Lady Carbery and Black Lamb and Grey Falcon [by Rebecca West]. She is working on her new book, which is set in the Castleconnell area in the summer of 1939. She is thinking of calling it ‘The Last of Summer’ and asks Anne’s opinion on the title. When she has finished writing it, she intends to finish the Spanish novel about Ana de Mendoza [That Lady]. She deems it a good story, but difficult to write. Kate is considering the prospect of staying on in Devon as a paying guest to the Dashwoods, partly because Elizabeth sets such a shining example as an industrious and methodical author for her to emulate.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Croyle, Cullompton, Devon to Anne O’Mara. Kate is very busy with English Diarists [English Diaries and Journals], writing various things for the Ministry of Information and trying to get a new novel [That Lady] going. She mentions that Elizabeth Dashwood [E. M. Delafield] is recovering from a severe chill, which has made her even thinner than she already is.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Croyle, Cullompton, Devon to Anne O’Mara. Kate gives an account of her Christmas with the Dashwoods. She is excited about her book [The Last of Summer] being the Book Society Choice for March, which gives it great send-off and will stimulates sales. She has been asked by the BBC to participate in a series called ‘The Living Image’, but had to postpone her joining in as she must finish her book on diaries [English Diaries and Journals] before the end of the month. Three small sections of the first sheet have been removed by the censor.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Croyle, Cullompton, Devon to Anne O’Mara. Kate has returned to Devon from a trip to London and found Elizabeth Dashwood gravely ill with an acute stoppage of the intestine. The Irish maid has arrived and is well liked by everyone. Kate has developed a carbuncle on her forehead and, being bandaged up, looks like a hero of Dunkirk. She has taken a lease of a small flat in London, where she intends to return towards the end of the month. She has just received a press cutting from the New York Times, according to which The Last of Summer is the Catholic Book Club choice in the USA. Part of the first sheet has been removed by the censor.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, 10 Buckingham Street, London WC2 to Anne O’Mara. Kate gives an account of her new flat, the possession of which she owes to Elizabeth Dashwood [E. M. Delafield], who ordered her literary agent to take Kate as a tenant. She discusses the dramatization of The Last of Summer, the rehearsals of which are about to begin; the touring of the play in the provinces, which is scheduled to start on 3 April; and the difficulties of casting. She also discusses her novel [That Lady], which isn’t getting much of a chance to advance. She misses the peace and quiet of Croyle as she is never much good at getting on with writing in town.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, 15 Farm Street, Berkeley Square, London W1 to Anne O’Mara. Kate has had an untroubled journey to England and is settled in temporary lodgings found for her by Elizabeth Sprigg. It took her two and a half hours to get re-registered as resident in England and to get her new ration book. London is looking cleaner and brighter, but there are queues everywhere, everyone looks tired and the food is awful. A great feeling of hope and relief permeates the streets and it seems a much happier city than the one she left.

Typed letter from Kate O’Brien, Minerva Club, 28a Brunswick Square, London WC1 to Anne O’Mara. Kate thanks Anne for her Christmas kindnesses and gives a brief account of her Christmas activities. She refers to her new book, which is being printed but won’t be published until April at soonest. She describes a lengthy argument over the title of book, which has finally been settled, all parties having agreed on That Lady.