Overview

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.

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9781846590900

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Reviews

'A wise and beautiful book about what it feels like to be alive - I really loved it' Zadie Smith 'Exceptionally interesting and brave - a wonderful book' Claire Tomalin 'Highly recommended for all aspiring writers' Bernardine Evaristo 'Read this vivid, minutely observed memoir' Sinclair McKay, Telegraph 'Fresh and funny - with a zest for living that bounces off the page' Psychologies '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 '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 '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 Observant, honest and sensitively-written, it will be required reading for all admirers of Maggie Gee's fiction. I greatly enjoyed it.' Michael Holroyd A beautifully wrought, perceptive and uplifting memoir'. The Good Book Guide

'A wise and beautiful book about what it feels like to be alive - I really loved it' Zadie Smith 'Exceptionally interesting and brave - a wonderful book' Claire Tomalin 'Highly recommended for all aspiring writers' Bernardine Evaristo 'Read this vivid, minutely observed memoir' Sinclair McKay, Telegraph 'Fresh and funny - with a zest for living that bounces off the page' Psychologies '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 '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 '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 Observant, honest and sensitively-written, it will be required reading for all admirers of Maggie Gee's fiction. I greatly enjoyed it.' Michael Holroyd A beautifully wrought, perceptive and uplifting memoir'. The Good Book Guide

Author Information

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, My Driver and The Flood, longlisted for the Orange Prize. She was the first female Chair of the Royal Society of Literature and is now one of its Vice-Presidents. She lives in London.

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