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'Pinter died two days later, on Christmas Eve. All [Fraser's] children and grandchildren who were in England came in "to visit him and give him a last kiss." In the evening, she was alone by his bedside, reading Tolstoy's Resurrection. "He opened his black eyes very wide, almost staring" was what she wrote in her diary. And she said, "It's me, Antonia, who loves you."
Excerpt from Vogue, August 2010, A Fine Romance, by Vicki Woods
Antonia Fraser, accomplished author of history and biographies whose works included Mary Queen of Scots, The Weaker Vessel, and Marie Antoinette, among others, divorced her first husband when she was 45 to marry the late Harold Pinter, Nobel Laureate in Literature. When Pinter passed away in 2008, Fraser found it impossible to focus on the project she was working on (a research on Elizabeth I). She decided, instead, to revisit her diaries in the past 40 years - a collection that encompassed hundreds of notebooks - and collate their 33-year love story. The resulting work Must You Go? will be published this November. I look forward to it.
Fraser was a rare entity in the literary academic world. She was a true intellectual, diligent in her research and honest to her discoveries. Yet, she was also incurably vibrant and romantic, full of motherly warmth and the ingenuous courage to follow her convictions. She was a living proof that one does not need to be a traditional scholar to produce serious writings on serious topics (e.g. she was one of the few non-academics to win the Wolfson History Prize). She was also a living proof that it is never too late to find the love of your life, and that passion and marital bliss can coexist. Her empathetic portrayal of female historical figures reminds me of Vigée-Le Brun, the 18C French painter who was famous for her portraits of Marie Antoinette and of herself, often together with her daughter. They were both unapologetic about bringing female figures into the spotlight within what was traditionally considered male-dominated realms, namely historical research and academic painting. Yet, they never came across as imposing and forceful. They were embodiment of the paradoxical qualities of women - strong and edgy, yet tender and beautiful. Their action was immaculate art - unintended yet brilliant.
 
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