Beyond This Harbor

Adventurous Tales of the Heart

By: Rose Styron

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Rose Styron

Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

A memoir of an extraordinary life—poet, international human rights activist, founding member of Amnesty International USA, journalist, hostess, famous beauty, foreign policy advisor; friend to politicians, movie stars, the legendary; discoverer of Philip Roth, longtime wife of Bill Styron and together, America’s literary golden couple at home and abroad

“[Rose Styron] has lived a life in interesting times, among legendary characters, a life well worth telling—and reading about.” —The Washington Post

An intimate portrait of a celebrated magic life and the famous and infamous who dropped in, summered, traveled with, played with, and the decades of friendship with everyone from Truman Capote and Robert Penn Warren to the Kennedys, the Bernsteins, Alexander Calder, John Hersey, and Lillian Hellman.

Here as well are the years of dedication and risk, traveling the world, from Pinochet’s Chile to El Salvador, Belfast, and Sarajevo, as Rose Styron, in search of those hiding from dictators and autocrats, bore witness to atrocities and human rights violations . . .

Styron writes of her childhood, born into a German Jewish, assimilated Baltimore family; a rebel from the start, studying poetry at Wellesley, Harvard, Johns Hopkins; traveling to Rome and her (second) meeting with Bill (the first time, “I can’t remember even shaking hands. I wasn’t thinking about him at all.”); their eventual marriage, and their more than fifty years together—in bucolic Roxbury, Connecticut, and on Martha's Vineyard.

She writes of Bill's writing and of retyping his manuscripts, discussing his writing progress, having babies, with visits from neighbors Arthur Miller; Mike Nichols and various wives; Dustin Hoffman buying the house over the hill; James Baldwin moving in to Styron’s writing studio and writing The Fire Next Time, with Baldwin encouraging Styron to write Nat Turner in first person; Frank Sinatra, sailing into Vineyard Haven Harbor and soon dropping by for dinners chez Styrons; the Kennedys having rowdy sleepovers . . .

And she writes in detail about Bill Styron's full-on breakdowns, his recovery from the first depression; writing Darkness Visible. And fifteen years later, the second much worse crash; Bill Styron’s death; her year of grief, teaching at Harvard; living full time on the Vineyard and making a new full life there . . .

©2023 Rose Styron (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“A memoir of an extraordinary life—poet, international human rights activist, founding member of Amnesty International USA, journalist, hostess, famous beauty, foreign policy advisor; friend to politicians, movie stars, the legendary; discoverer of Philip Roth, longtime wife of Bill Styron and together, America’s literary golden couple at home and abroad. [Rose Styron’s is a] life well worth telling—and reading about.” —Marion Winik, The Washington Post

“A riveting chronicle . . . Ms. Styron brings herself out of her husband’s shadow and into the light.” —Malcolm Forbes, The Wall Street Journal

“[A]n intriguing, at times high-flying, well-lived life. . . Styron has a long history of making others feel special, and it’s invigorating to watch someone so seemingly comfortable in her own skin. You want to hang out with her for real.” —Gary Goldstein, LA Times

A wonderful memoir of a full life

I loved this memoir as it is full of the adventures of Rose Styron, who I had no idea of her many accomplishments and life. Her courage in her endeavors and in her caregiving are inspiring.

Having grown up in Baltimore and graduated from Wellesley College myself, I identified with so much in her story.

It is very well written and entertained us from Falls Church to NH and back! Many famous names were dropped, but I admit that I knew almost all of those names! The time flew by.

Mind numbing

“She flits, she floats…flees”. This is a reminiscence of important names that filled her life and maybe,at her age, that is all she wanted to record. If she gave more personal insight, I might not be thinking Amnesty International was just another social circle with adventure and travel.

Not My Politics

In my 20's I read 'Confessions of Nat Turner' and loved it. I wanted to know more about the Styrons, especially Rose! The story of her full and daring life held my interest for the first few chapter but I ultimately put it down because of the ultra liberal politics. It's rare that I don't finish a book, in this case, it was easy!