Gosh, I am totally smitten with this book. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Atwood herself. It’s a total gem, covering Peggy’s childhood—growing up in the bush half of the year—through her teen and university years, the birth of Canadian publishing, and the successive peaks of her family life and career. I loved the intimate details, the inside stories, the quiet “guffaws” included in the recording as she laughs at parts of the story. I love the cover image and the various photoshoot images.
Book of Lives (rhymes with lies) is the finest example of a memoir that I’ve ever read. Snarky, blunt, and full of amusing anecdotes. It’s a love letter to her partner Graeme, a legacy for her daughter and step-kids, and a thank you to the array of people who influenced the formidable woman she is today.
My favourite Atwood works include The Penelopiad (Atwood’s retelling of The Odysseus from Penelope’s perspective) and Hag-Seed (her re-visiting of Shakespeare’s The Tempest). But I’m keen now to read Old Babes in the Wood, The Testaments, The Heart Goes Last, and Stone Mattress. Here are the brief descriptions on the author’s site. Book of Lives reminded me of the many, many Atwood works that I have not yet read.
Whoever convinced Atwood to write and publish her memoir, thank you. It’s full of travel, birding, entomology, canoeing, baking, knitting, gossip, land conservation, creative influences, and family tales. I loved it.