Antonia Fraser’s book, Our Israeli Diary, 1978, a renowned author, and her traveling companion, Harold Pinter, an English Nobel Prize winning playwright, documented their experiences of their first trip to Israel, which was quite different than this writer's first, and only, trip.

Critiquing someone’s diary, regardless of the author, is to judge what is typically an intimate journey, which raised a number of questions: Does one, for example, comment on their sightseeing experiences, first impressions of the country, their meals, or the people with whom they socialized? Furthermore, what does one hope for when reading someone's diary, particularly when documenting a trip versus the evolving human dynamics in a relationship over a significant period?

In reflecting on her book, Ms. Fraser’s experiences would seem to be a diary of particular interest to those who personally know her, knew her companion, and/or values her writing. Too, this book was written almost 40 years ago: What would her experiences be today? ( )

This is a slim book, barely 150 pages of medium-large type about a trip to the Holy Land in May of 1978, but Antonia Fraser is so darned intelligent, witty and wise, that it is a delight to make her acquaintance.

Her description of the dialogue she had with a librarian in the Armenian Quarter about illuminations in a four-volume set of ancient 12th-15th Century "amazing" manuscripts, "... so immediately and strikingly exquisite ... that my pen is not adequate" is a case in point.

So appreciative was she of the librarian's insight and scholarship that she can only say ... "Otherwise I would have been left with the language of Jackie Kennedy, I fear, "Ooh" and "wow".

When readers finish this treasure of a book, they will wish for more.

Nearly 40 years ago, Antonia Fraser and Harold Pinter traveled to Israel together. Their visit coincided with the 30th anniversary of Israel's founding. Fraser recently rediscovered the diary she kept during the two-week trip and it has been edited for publication. The power couple moved in elite circles that included prominent individuals like Teddy Sieff, Teddy Kollek, Shimon Peres, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Although the entries for each day are brief, they contain perceptive comments that sum up their conversations with their Israeli hosts and their observations about the social and political climate. The diary also reveals characteristics of Fraser and Pinter's personal relationship. Pinter seems to have had a difficult personality, and Fraser spent a lot of time mollifying his irritations and anxieties. Fraser makes several references to the books that she and Pinter read before and during the trip such as autobiographies of Abba Eban and Moshe Dayan, O Jerusalem! by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, and novels by Martin Amis and Emma Tennant.

Readers with an interest in either Fraser or Pinter or in their relationship are probably the primary audience for the book. It may also appeal to readers with an interest in the history of the state of Israel in the late 1970s.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. ( )

An interesting visit to Israel with Fraser's partner and later husband. Details their daily activities and impressions. A quick read. ( )

Brief diary entries that Lady Antonia Fraser, the famed British historical biographer, kept during a two week trip to Israel in 1978 with her then-lover, the playwright Harold Pinter. After both obtained divorces, they were able to marry in 1980. Her observations about Israel's places of interest and the people they met, while interesting, say nearly as much about Lady Antonia and Britons of her social class as they do about Israel and its inhabitants. She betrays no thought that Pinter may be showing off his upper class, very cultured, beautiful, strawberry blond lover to some of the world's most important Jewish leaders. She is unable to resist making a crack about Jacqueline Kennedy who was there at the same time.
A book easy to read and worth the effort. ( )