Priscilla Buckley is probably best known as managing editor of the conservative political journal National Review, founded by her brother, William F. Buckley Jr. But in String of Pearls, we meet young Pitts Buckley, just out of Smith, the United Press Radio News Department’s fresh and eager fledgling employee. The atmosphere in UP’s New York offices was a heady one; the journalists worked furiously but had time to play practical jokes and treasure the funny stories that haste and tension engender. With the war in Europe winding to a close, it was a demanding, sometimes heartbreaking, and always vibrant period.

A few years later, the author accepted a job at the Paris Bureau of United Press. The scars of the prolonged occupation were everywhere, but for Priscilla and her friends, there were laughter and comic misadventures as well.