“Invisible Walls” by Hella Pick

This book is subtitled A Journalist in Search of Her Life, and the author’s life is incredible. Born in Austria in 1928 she was sent as a Jewish child refugee to England in 1939, and her teenage years were spent in largely female company. As she says, that is not the best preparation for transition to adult life.

I appreciated her mention of the Christian Moral Re-Armament movement as I once had a close friend whose family were involved in this. This friend’s wedding was memorable for being alcohol-free (forewarned, we stopped for a drink at a pub between service and reception).

Hella witnessed political changes in West Africa as colonial powers withdrew and nations gained independence. She spent 35 years as a political correspondent for the Guardian and seems to have known every important world leader during that time. Many of her anecdotes are fascinating although I would have liked to read more about her personal life. Her focus is always on her work as she recounts developments from Nazi Germany to Brexit and Covid. Anyone with an interest in the history of the last century would find much of significance in this book.

She knew them all from Aga Khan
to Whitehall, Ghana, and Iran