'This extraordinary memoir by Virginia Foster Durr originated in interviews between 1974 and 1977. Hollinger F. Barnard pieced together the interviews in a way that eliminated repetition, produced a coherent and eminently readable narrative, and in the process, demonstrated her superb editorial skills. The result is a book that both chronicles the emancipation of a southern lady and probes the mind and mores of her region with rare insight, disarming candor and engaging wit.