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One Life cover art

One Life

By: Kate Grenville
Narrated by: Kate Grenville
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Publisher's Summary

Nance was a week short of her sixth birthday when she and Frank were roused out of bed in the dark and lifted into the buggy, squashed in with bedding, the cooking pots rattling around in the back, and her mother shouting back towards the house, "Good-bye, Rothsay, I hope I never see you again!"

When Kate Grenville’s mother died, she left behind many fragments of memoir. These were the starting point for One Life, the story of a woman whose life spanned a century of tumult and change. In many ways Nance’s story echoes that of many mothers and grandmothers for whom the spectacular shifts of the 20th century offered a path to new freedoms and choices.

In other ways Nance was exceptional. In an era when women were expected to have no ambitions beyond the domestic, she ran successful businesses as a registered pharmacist, laid the bricks for the family home, and discovered her husband’s secret life as a revolutionary.

©2015 Kate Grenville (P)2015 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

Critic Reviews

"A few sentences of Grenville’s makes one realise that much of the writing one encounters in a novel these days is thin and perfunctory." (The Daily Express)

"One Life is a treat further enhanced by a contemplative and intimate narration." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about One Life

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    4 out of 5 stars

Not your usual tale of your mother

Based on her mother's several attempts to write an autobiography, Kate Grenville has written a biography that reveals intimate details of her mother's life, often in her mother's words. Though not a polished and professional reader, Grenville reads well and it is at times moving thinking that the voice in my ears, telling me about painful episodes in the life of the principal character, is the voice of that character's daughter. I liked it very much.

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An Amazing Story of an Amazing Australian Woman

Beautifully read by the author this was one of those books to be treasured. Kate Grenville painted the picture of an amazing woman who broke the bounds of a woman's life during the early 20th century and overcame the narrow, restrictions of the wife and mother role of that time while remaining a warm, loving and courageous woman. I highly recommend this book.

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all set in a world I knew

loved it all. definitely worth the read and the same era as my mum too.

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it was a true story

i love thar Kate Grenville wrote about her mother and the ways she coped with in her world in spite of it's shortcomings.

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A wonderful story evoking the eras

Beautifully written story about her mother and her surprising life. I Really enjoyed this book.

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Local history through personal history

I really enjoyed this book. It engendered empathy and sympathy for people of this generation and was very well written. It gave a greater understanding of our own parents' stories

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Family History told beautifully

Nance Russell was an amazing woman and trail blazer becoming a pharmacist in the 1930s.

I listened to 'Always Greener' (free on Audible) first followed by 'One Life.'. It was interesting to hear the different perspectives on Kate Grenville's family history - from her Grandmother Dolly in Always Greener and then her mother Nance in One Life. They don't have to be read together but I'm glad I did.

Kate Grenville is a fabulous writer and her works of historical fiction are amongst my favourite books. She has brought the same craft to writing her family history and I'm sure her mother Nance would enjoy the way she has been portrayed, not so sure about Dolly, but then she wasn't the approving type!

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Beautiful

loved this audible fabulous narration. The story is a great insight to Australian life pre and post war

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Loved this book!

Kate Grenville is a national treasure! So interesting to hear of one woman’s journey through education, career and family in the 40s to 60s and reflect on Australia’s social development at the time. Extra enjoyable to have read it after the story of her mother. Thanks Kate, beautifully narrated too!

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Fascinating and Educational

Thoroughly enjoyed this book depicting the difficult lives of women in earlier years. Her mother was ahead of her time. Modern women should be made aware of how lucky they are these days. Their lives have altered due to women like Nance starting the ball rolling toward education of women and showing what they’re capable of, if given the chance.
This is the second book of Kate Grenville which I’ve enjoyed and I intend to try more.

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.