Memoirs give us an unique insight into another person’s life. Encompassing stories of resilience, hope, recovery and the healing power of nature, here are ten I’ve particularly enjoyed. Links from the title will take you to my review.
Devorgilla Days by Kathleen Hart (Two Roads) – Recovering from cancer, the author leaves behind her old life to begin again in Wigtown, Scotland’s book capital, where she takes up wild swimming and is embraced by the local community. In three words: Truthful, moving, inspiring
The Girl From Lamaha Street by Sharon Maas (Thread Books) – The author’s memories of growing up in British Guiana (now Guyana) in the 1950s, being sent to boarding school in England and being ‘the only dark-skinned girl in a sea of posh white girls’. In three words: Evocative, perceptive, honest
The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories from My Life by John le Carré (Penguin) – A series of essays in which the author muses on the people he’s met and the places he’s travelled to as well as his approach to writing. ‘Spying and writing are made for each other. Both call for a ready eye for human transgression and the many routes to betrayal.’ This is le Carré the humanitarian, philantropist, sympathetic listener and loyal friend, and someone with a self-deprecating and wry sense of humour. In three words: Fascinating, insightful, authentic
The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn (Michael Joseph) – The book describes the journey to publication of her award-winning book, The Salt Path, and how this led to the opportunity for her and her partner, Moth, to embark on the restoration of a neglected cider farm and increase its biodiversity. The Wild Silence is a passionate thesis on the contribution that exposure to the natural world has on our physical and mental health. In three words: Honest, inspiring, heartfelt
The Outrun by Amy Liptrot (Canongate) – As part of her journey to sobriety, the author moves to Papay, a remote island off Orkney, where she slowly starts to rebuild her life. She discovers an interest in astronomy, wild swimming, snorkelling, folklore and the birds and other creatures that make the island and the sea that surrounds it their home. ‘Since I got sober, I sometimes find myself surprised and made joyful by normal life… Life can be bigger and richer than I knew.’ In three words: Unflinching, honest, inspiring
In My Life: A Music Memoir by Alan Johnson (Bantam Press) – Music has also been an integral part of the life of lifelong Beatles fan and former politician, Alan Johnson. Each chapter is linked to a song that evokes particular memories of his life at that time. The book also charts the evolution of popular music, the changes in how people listen to music and his own thwarted musical ambitions. In three words: Honest, warm, witty
Where the Hornbeam Grows by Beth Lynch (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) – Subtitled ‘A Journey in Search of a Garden’, the author describes her own personal experience of being uprooted from her accustomed habitat and transplanted to somewhere new and entirely alien – in this case, Switzerland. Finally, she and her partner find a place where they feel they can build a home, and the author describes how, over the next few years, she starts to create a garden whilst at the same time facing the challenges of moving to a new country. In three words: Insightful, moving, reflective
Memory Hold-The-Door by John Buchan (Hodder & Stoughton) – Completed the day before he died and published posthumously, the book contains astute pen pictures of notable figures with whom Buchan came into contact during a life and career that encompassed the law, colonial administration, publishing, journalism, work in military intelligence, service as an MP and as Governor-General of Canada, as well as the writing for which he is now best known. In the book, Buchan remarks that ‘the study of [history] is the best guarantee against repeating it’. If only that were so. In three words: Reflective, eloquent, wise
Bookworm: A Memoir of Childhood Reading by Lucy Mangan (Square Peg) – The author is a passionate advocate of reading, libraries and the joy that books can bring. ‘I have lived so many lives through books, gone to so many places, so many eras, looked through so many different eyes, considered so many different points of view.’ In three words: Witty, nostalgic, heartfelt
One Hundred Miracles: Music, Auschwitz, Survival & Love by Zuzana Ružicková with Wendy Holden (Bloomsbury) – Based on interviews completed only two weeks before she died, the book recounts world-famous harpsichordist Zuzana Ružicková’s idyllic childhood in Czechoslovakia, the horrific periods she spent in the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, and the love of music that sustained her. In three words: Inspiring, emotional, moving
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