A Great Task of Happiness: The Life of Kathleen Scott

First published in 1995 by Macmillan, this is the biography of Kathleen Scott, written by her granddaughter the novelist Louisa Young, author of My Dear I Wanted to Tell You (Harper Collins). Famous for being Captain Scott of the Antarctic's widow, Kathleen was also a talented professional sculptor who studied in Paris with Rodin. She led a very adventurous and unusual life for a woman of her time, and made friends with people as diverse as Bernard Shaw, Fritjof Nansen, the WW1 Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and dancer Isadora Duncan. Her sons were Sir Peter Scott the naturalist and writer, and politician Wayland Young, Lord Kennet. The biography is based on diaries Kathleen started in 1910 for Scott to read on his return; after his death she continued writing them, covering politics, exploration, art and her friends and family. 2012 is the 100th anniversary of Scott's last expedition, and this new and revised edition is published in celebration. The Times described the book as 'an enthralling life'.