Book of Lives
The top ten Sunday Times bestseller
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
'Fat and satisfying' Observer * 'I loved it' Dua Lipa * 'Deliciously naughty' iNews * 'Beautifully told' Woman & Home * 'Spellbinding' FT * Book of the Year Guardian, Financial Times, Observer, Belfast Telegraph
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.
*Top ten Sunday Times bestseller week of 22 November 2025*
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Her remarkable body of work spans 17 novels, 19 books of poetry and 11 nonfiction books—but never, until now, a memoir. For the army of fans of Margaret Atwood, whose visionary novels include the dystopian feminist classic The Handmaid‘s Tale, her decision to finally tell the story of her life is nothing short of a landmark literary event. And what a life it has been. From her unconventional childhood in the wilderness of northern Quebec and feminist awakening, to her life at the centre of a dazzling literary scene and relationship with her charismatic author partner Graeme Gibson, the Booker Prize winner recounts her experiences with all the wit and wisdom we‘ve come to expect. But most thrilling of all are her insights into the moments which sparked her seminal novels, including how the political tensions she observed while living in Berlin in the 1980s fed into the totalitarian theocracy she created in The Handmaid‘s Tale. A true must-read.
