Set in Paris, 1931 to 1934. Nin is in her late twenties, married to a banker, in analysis, and just beginning to write, and the diary is her real work. This is the volume where she meets Henry Miller and June Miller and the three of them get on like a house on fire. She edited it heavily before publication, cutting her husband and the affairs, so think of it as a constructed self-portrait rather than a record (an early social media feed, perhaps?). What’s unmatched is the writing on other people — she can pin a person in just three sentences.
The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Volume 1