It is this treasury of information that makes this book such a valuable piece of scholarship. [...] a remarkable portrait of the life and times, the moods and concerns, the fun and the pain of Kathleen Ferrier. [...] Christopher Fifield [...] has written what may be regarded as an ideal model of this kind of book. [...] I strongly recommend this book.
John France
MUSIC.WEB.INTERNATIONAL
[The] letters and diaries [...] are wonderfully colourful; they are funny and down-to-earth, informative and detailed. Her courage, to the very end, never faltered.
THE LANCASHIRE MAGAZINE
Christopher Fifield edits the domestic and professional material with informed sensitivity, discretely offering clarifications or context when necessary. There will be few better - or truer - tributes to this still much-missed singer.
CLASSICAL MUSIC [Editor's Choice]
Fifty years on, a voice that still touches the heart.
GRAMOPHONE
A vivid self-portrait of a brave, secure woman in love with life and music, whose joie de vivre was palpable and supported both by a notable lack of inflated egoism and a singular sense of humour which rarely faltered, even toward the end. Anyone interested in Kathleen Ferrier's life and art, and the milieu of the Second World War years and their aftermath by which they were embraced, will find this welcome book required reading. It is above all, and despite the final descent, a celebration of living.
JOHN TALBOT, BRITISH MUSIC SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
On closing [this book] with a terrible sadness, I'm a fan too... The secret is her voice - the plain-speaking tone of a Lancashire lass who was also an aesthete, a joker and an exemplary friend. These letters...chronicle everything, from whom she knocked around with - Britten, Pears, Barbirolli, Danny Kaye, Rex Harrison - to what she sang and what she greedily ate.
Michael Church
FINANCIAL TIMES
Delightful letters and diaries.
Rupert Christiansen
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Editing and presentation are as fine as anyone could wish and Fifield's introductions to each chapter could not be better written.
Best Buy5 Stars
CLASSIC FM