Virgins and Other Endangered Species: A Memoir - Tapa dura

Through the eyes of Dorothea Straus, all her subjects emerge as endangered species. As an adoring, wise child, we meet her father as she comes to realize a truth about him as a man. We are enchanted, too, by the old-fashioned family doctor, brother to Alfred Stieglitz. We meet the nannies and friends. We go to Europe and college. We are transported to bygone times.
The enigma, Jerzy Kosinski, is recreated with startling clarity, as is Lillian Hellman in the last few days of her life. We find Marguerite Yourcenar in "A Modest New England House," discover some of the secrets of Thomas Winthrop, and meet the anachronistic letter-writer, Charles Jackson; all have been saved through the magical lens of memory.
In this compelling collection of autobiographical remembrances, Dorothea Straus, inspired by her admitted guru Marcel Proust and his masterful A la recherche de temps perdu, looks back on her life in her own search for lost time. And though time may be fleeting, the poignant portraits painted in this rich, prismatic book hold fast.