In these pages, Fisher's letters are made public for the first time. Selected and compiled by her younger sister, her longtime secretary, and a close family friend, these highly personal pieces reveal some of Fisher's most private moments, giving ample display to her sharp wit and affectionate humor, her ongoing reflections on loss and the power of change.

Six decades of correspondence sketch the story of a young adult who shouldered enormous domestic responsibilities as daughter, mother, and wife - a sensuous woman who managed to find success as a writer despite a paucity of money, time, and occasionally, spirit. These letters give voice to the self-doubt that lingered behind her strong public persona and tell of her long struggle to find a place in the world - not only as a writer but as a person.

M. F. K. Fisher: A Life in Letters features an introduction by Anne Lamott, and includes thirty-two pages of photographs from Fishers' family collection.