Book 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. '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 '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 '[Gee's] utterly compelling on the rollercoaster of writing
life, from early success to rock-bottom rejection. 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
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.
