In 1972, Juliet Nicolson received a telegram offering her a place to read English Literature at St Hugh's College, Oxford. She initially kept it secret and considered declining to follow her boyfriend James to work in a discotheque in Tehran. Her father's letter, weighing the pros and cons, persuaded her to choose university.
A Difficult Decision
Juliet's parents had not expected her to attend university. Her mother, born between the world wars, believed marriage was the only secure future and had enrolled Juliet in finishing courses to enhance her spousal eligibility. Despite her mother's skepticism, Juliet's father and English teacher recognized her passion for literature. She sat the Oxbridge exam and was offered a place.
Meanwhile, she had met James, a DJ working for a traveling discotheque company. He proposed they go to Tehran, where he had a job at the Hilton hotel's disco. Juliet was torn between love and education.
The Telegram and the Letter
On a December evening, a telegram arrived with the Oxford offer. Juliet told no one. A second telegram set a deadline of 27 December for acceptance. On Boxing Day, she called her father and said she would turn down the offer to go to Iran. He was silent, then dropped his coffee cup.
The next day, a motorcycle messenger delivered a letter from her father with two sheets: A listed reasons to go to Tehran; B argued for becoming the first woman in the family to attend university. The persuasive case made the decision clear.
Impact and Legacy
Juliet chose Oxford. She later married James, who never went to Tehran. Her English teacher, Penelope Fitzgerald, won the Booker Prize in 1979 for Offshore. Juliet's father's advice taught her to weigh decisions carefully and to have confidence to try, even against opposition.
Juliet Nicolson's memoir, The Book of Revelations: A History of the Secrets Women Keep and Tell from the 1950s to the Present Day, is published by Vintage at £22.
