Overview

Love, death and good behaviour looked very different to a girl growing up in a small family in 1950s England. Maggie Gee tells the true story of becoming an adult during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and living through dramatic changes in attitudes towards race, class and gender in the second half of the twentieth century. Writing intimately and frankly about her relationships, Maggie asks pertinent questions about love, sex, loss, parental duties and death. She tells how her understanding was transformed by seeing herself in the wider framework of animal life on earth. This remarkable memoir celebrates the joy and beauty of a short life on a hospitable planet.

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9781846599873

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Reviews

Exceptionally interesting and brave - Maggie Gee's account of her life as a writer cuts to the bone as she relives triumphs, rejections, despair and renewal. It's a wonderful book, for its boldness and vigour, and for its piercing honesty.' Claire Tomalin 'A living and unusual book: part social history, part family history and part autobiography which chronicles the evolution and career of a gifted novelist. Observant, honest and sensitively-written - it demands to be read. I greatly enjoyed it.' Michael Holroyd 'My Animal Life is full of riches. She writes with uncompromising honesty about the triumphs and vicissitudes of her personal and literary life and offers balanced and wise insights into family and friendship, motherhood and marriage, class and race. Highly recommended for all aspiring writers.' Bernardine Evaristo '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

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 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.

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