BEYOND THIS HARBOR

The longtime wife of William Styron reflects on her poetry, her work as an international human rights activist, and her vast social network.

Styron begins in 1974 while in Chile on an early assignment for Amnesty International, shortly after the American-backed coup that replaced Salvador Allende with de facto dictator Augusto Pinochet. The horrifying accounts she learned during her assignment influenced her life and work for the next few decades. The author then moves back in time to recall her courtship and early years of marriage to William, their expanding family, and their eventual long-term residences in Roxbury, Connecticut, and Martha’s Vineyard. These were busy social years, and Styron references an expansive array of prominent names that included leading political, literary, and artistic figures of the day. Peter Matthiessen, Arthur Miller, Philip Roth, and Mike Nichols were among their inner circle; the Clintons, the Kennedys, Lillian Hellman, and Frank Sinatra were part of a wider network. The book takes on more substance as Styron recounts further experiences on behalf of Amnesty in Moscow, Sarajevo, and El Salvador as well as later encounters with political figures such as Fidel Castro. The author offers more intimate reflections when describing her care for William during his periods of severe depression. “I became the scholar of Bill’s moods and behavior, too interested and curious to turn off entirely even when I could not reach him,” writes the author. “I know that this man I had married was never boring, always brilliant, mesmerizingly mercurial….I realized I must look around the corner to be ready for what was coming next onto our windswept, waterlogged path if health and sanity were ever to return.” Throughout her memoir, the author recalls a rich and productive life, but her excessive name-dropping somewhat undermines the strength of her accomplishments and skills as a storyteller.

Colorful stories from a remarkable woman’s life well lived.