Book of Lives

Immerse yourself in the creative universe of Margaret Atwood for a riot of life, art and everything in between: the greatest writer of our time tells her own story


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.

Review

Where most such backward looks are cosily triumphalist or anxiously self-justifying, hers is sharp, funny and engaging... nerdy brainiac, waifish poet, Medusa-eyed feminist, uncanny prophet and one of the great novelists of our time -- Blake Morrison ― Guardian

Displays the wit, intelligence and complexity that marks her best work... fat and satisfying... these glimpses of the mechanism? are fascinating -- Erica Wagner ― Observer

Just in time for Christmas, Atwood presents her readers with another outsize gift: a big fat juicy memoir, as compulsively readable as her best fiction... One of the most deliciously engaging memoirs of the decade, this brims over with life, wit and flashes of prophecy -- Nilanjana Roy ― Financial Times

Fiercely funny tales from a literary mafia don... as pacy and fascinating as any of her books... she is hilarious, with a poet's eye for detail and endless short, tart punchlines -- India Block ― Evening Standard

The Atwood on display here, as incisive as ever…is more emotive, her wit riper and more forgiving, as though she were recounting her life to old friends ― Times Literary Supplement

Immensely readable... Atwood’s anecdotes and musings are so entertaining, and the fabric of her life, the foundations of her evidently resourceful, hard-working and fiercely funny character so interesting... it never particularly feels like the life of a famous person... The real Margaret Atwood is sentimental, blunt and deliciously naughty -- Francesca Steels ― iNews

Book of Lives, displays the wit, intelligence and complexity that marks her [Atwood’s] best work ― Observer

A book with understated voltage -- Martin Chilton ― Independent

A remarkable read... successfully puts time in a bottle ― LA Times

Book of Lives [is] immensely readable… Atwood’s anecdotes and musings are so entertaining, and the fabric of her life, the foundations of her evidently resourceful, hard-working and fiercely funny character so interesting, that this book is never plodding ― i

About the Author

Margaret Atwood is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry and critical essays. Her novels include Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride, Alias Grace, The Blind Assassin and the MaddAddam trilogy. Her 1985 classic The Handmaid's Tale was followed in 2019 by a sequel, The Testaments, which was a global number one bestseller and shared the Booker Prize. Her most recent publications are the poetry collections Dearly and Paper Boat; Burning Questions, a selection of essays; and Old Babes in the Wood, a volume of short stories.

Atwood is a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, and has won numerous awards including the Arthur C. Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. She has also worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, librettist, playwright and puppeteer. She lives in Toronto, Canada.