Book of Lives
A Memoir of Sorts
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Book of Lives
Buy Now for $27.20
-
Narrated by:
-
Margaret Atwood
-
By:
-
Margaret Atwood
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
The greatest writer of our time tells her own story. Immerse yourself in the creative universe of Margaret Atwood for a riot of life, art and everything in between
Raised by scientifically minded parents, Atwood spent most of each year in the wild forest of northern Quebec: a vast playground for her entomologist father and independent, resourceful mother. It was an unfettered and nomadic childhood, sometimes isolated but also thrilling and beautiful.
From this unconventional start, Atwood unfolds the story of her life, linking key moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel school year that would become Cat’s Eye to the unease of 1980s Berlin, where she began The Handmaid’s Tale. In pages alive with the natural world, reading and books, major political turning points and her lifelong love for the charismatic writer Graeme Gibson, we meet poets, bears, Hollywood stars and larger-than-life characters straight from the pages of an Atwood novel.
As she explores her past, Atwood reveals more and more about her writing, the connections between real life and art – and the workings of one of our boldest imaginations.
'She's taken our times and made us wise to them' ALI SMITH
'She's Margaret Atwood and she can do anything' ANN PATCHETT
'She saw it all coming' TIME
'The outstanding novelist of our age' SUNDAY TIMES
© Margaret Atwood 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
Editorial Review
Critic Reviews
What a treat
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The book starts with an almost blow-by-blow account of Atwood’s school years. At one point I wondered if we were going to get every year of her life in such detail, and given that she is in her 80’s now, the book would stretch out long before us. We don’t.
The early years are the formative years. Atwood had an amazing childhood, camping in the Canadian wilderness for half the year with her entomologist father and tomboy mother. Here we see how she developed a sense of self-sufficiency that carries her through the next phases of her life.
Atwood has used this memoir to acknowledge the influences in her writing, good and bad, and the listener can feel the undercurrents of jealousy from other writers as she achieved success. I get the sense that Ms Atwood would be a formidable enemy if crossed, and personally, I delight in that. Who doesn’t love a strong, self-assured woman?! She also outlines her areas of research. We know we are in safe hands in her writing because she has the academic rigour behind her.
The book then goes on to her major works, and outlines the influences, the people in her life at the time, and the zeitgeist. She narrates some of her poems, and for those readers who are only familiar with the Handmaid’s Tale and the Testaments, she paves the way for readers to experience her other works. I, for one, will make a point of reading all her writing now, having read most of her novels.
The death of the love of her life, Graeme Gibson, is a tragedy of epic proportions for Atwood and she handles this episode in her life with deep sensitivity, offering the reader her wisdom on what it means to suffer the loss of a loved one.
All in all, I am thrilled that I have had the chance to listen to Margaret Atwood, telling her own tale. A true living legend. Highly recommended.
It all makes sense
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.