Review
'A wise and beautiful book about what it feels like to be alive I really loved it --Zadie Smith
'Often joyous; infinitely wise; passionate and poised, this is a book you ll want to sit in silence with and hug to yourself - then start again.' --Daily Mail
Exceptionally interesting and brave ... a wonderful book Claire Tomalin A fine, honest, complex portrait of an artist s mind Michele Roberts, Independent Every word strikes like a hammer on an anvil, throwing off sizzling sparks Bidisha, The f word Anyone who yearns for that lost post-war Britain would do well to read this vivid, minutely observed memoir ...Gee has a sensuous eye for detail Sinclair McKay, Telegraph It is a testament to Gee s skill with structure, her lightness of touch and her honesty, particularly about the most painful episodes, that she has fashioned this account of a fundamentally satisfying and happy writer s life into such a page-turner. Melissa Benn, New Statesman Maggie Gee writes with such courage and wit. This is a vivid portrait of a woman finding her way through the maze of class ridden post war England, the 60's, feminism and how to be a mother and a writer. Diana Melly Highly recommended for all aspiring writers' Bernardine Evaristo 'Observant, honest and sensitively-written... Michael Holroyd Fresh and funny ... with a zest for living that bounces off the page... Psychologies Sensitive, honest, courageous, stylish The Times ' --Reviews and Endorsements
'Often joyous; infinitely wise; passionate and poised, this is a book you ll want to sit in silence with and hug to yourself - then start again.' --Daily Mail
Exceptionally interesting and brave ... a wonderful book Claire Tomalin A fine, honest, complex portrait of an artist s mind Michele Roberts, Independent Every word strikes like a hammer on an anvil, throwing off sizzling sparks Bidisha, The f word Anyone who yearns for that lost post-war Britain would do well to read this vivid, minutely observed memoir ...Gee has a sensuous eye for detail Sinclair McKay, Telegraph It is a testament to Gee s skill with structure, her lightness of touch and her honesty, particularly about the most painful episodes, that she has fashioned this account of a fundamentally satisfying and happy writer s life into such a page-turner. Melissa Benn, New Statesman Maggie Gee writes with such courage and wit. This is a vivid portrait of a woman finding her way through the maze of class ridden post war England, the 60's, feminism and how to be a mother and a writer. Diana Melly Highly recommended for all aspiring writers' Bernardine Evaristo 'Observant, honest and sensitively-written... Michael Holroyd Fresh and funny ... with a zest for living that bounces off the page... Psychologies Sensitive, honest, courageous, stylish The Times ' --Reviews and Endorsements
Product Description
How do you become a writer, and why? Maggie Gee s journey starts a long way from the literary world in a small family in post-war Britain. At seventeen, Maggie goes, a lamb to the slaughter, to university. From the 1960s onwards she lives the defining events of her generation: the coming of the Pill and sexual freedom, tremors in the British layer-cake of class and race. In the 1980s, Maggie finally gets published, falls in love, marries and has a daughter but for the next three decades and beyond, she survives, and sometimes thrives, by writing. This frank, bold memoir dares to explore the big questions: success and failure, sex, death and parenthood our animal life.
About the Author
Maggie Gee was chosen as one of Granta's original 'Best Young British Novelists'. She has published many novels to great acclaim, including The White Family, shortlisted for the Orange and IMPAC prizes, My Cleaner and The Flood, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize. She was the first female Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, and her work has been translated into thirteen languages.
