Stranger on the Square

New York. 1984. August 1984. Random House. 1st Edition. Very Good in Slightly Worn Dustjacket. 0394538889. 242 pages. hardcover. Jacket design: Neil Stuart front of jacket photograph: Sam Haskins. keywords: Europe England Literature World Literature. DESCRIPTION - In March 1983, in an act that shocked people everywhere and resulted in front-page headlines around the world, Arthur and Cynthia Koestler committed double suicide in their house on Montpelier Square in London. It was understandable why Mr. Koestler had taken his life - he suffered from two increasingly painful and debilitating illnesses - but Mrs. Koestler was twenty-two years younger and in perfect health. This haunting, poignant book explains why she chose to end her life as well. Like the earlier volumes of Koestler's autobiography, ARROW IN THE BLUE and THE INVISIBLE WRITING, STRANGER ON THE SQUARE is one of those rare books that does not contain a single dull word. It is the enthralling record of the social and intellectual life of one of the most extraordinary figures of the twentieth century - a man who combined in a unique way the life of action, the life of the mind and the deep and rich enjoyment of other people. In one sense this book differs completely from anything else Koestler wrote, for it was written jointly, in alternate chapters, by himself and his wife Cynthia. In 1949, after answering an advertisement, Cynthia Jefferies went to work as a temporary secretary to Arthur Koestler, and continued to do so on and off for the next six years in France, England and the United States. There is little doubt that she fell in love with Koestler almost at their first meeting, and in 1955, in response to a telegram from him, she left her job in New York to go work for him permanently From that reunion until their deaths, their lives were shared. In 1965 they were married. STRANGER ON THE SQUARE is unfinished, covering only the years from 1940 to 1956. The manuscript was found among Koestler's papers after their deaths, inventory #36765 Very Good in Slightly Worn Dustjacket.…