A Short Walk from Harrods

Book excerpt: _______________ 'The autobiography comes full circle - appropriately enough, because this is a book in which people come to terms with the past, make peace with inner demons, learn to say goodbye to loved ones and become sensitive, caring human beings' - The Independent _______________ First published in 1993, A Short Walk from Harrods is volume six of Dirk Bogarde's best-selling memoirs. Forced to return to London because of his manager and his partner's rapidly deteriorating health, Bogarde learned to re-adapt to life in the west London neighbourhoods that groomed him as an aspiring young actor. With his fame fading and his descent into old age, the entire process had become rather difficult to endure. He writes of stalking the streets like an 'apologetic turtle' and avoiding society, announcing that he would, from then on, only do 'matinees' because he is too tired to go out in the evenings. Although this memoir finds Bogarde at his most vulnerable, he retains the lucidity and charm that makes his writing so enjoyable. As ever, he expresses a deep sentimentality that ensures no detail goes unnoticed or unfelt.