
A Life of My Own
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5
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Paperback(Reprint)
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15.3
$15.30
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780399562938 |
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Publisher: | Penguin Publishing Group |
Publication date: | 08/20/2019 |
Edition description: | Reprint |
Pages: | 352 |
Sales rank: | 87,176 |
Product dimensions: | 5.00(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.70(d) |
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A Life of My Own
4 out of 5
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My love of biographies that take place in England led me to this autobiography by author Claire Tomalin. I knew nothing of her existence previously, but was frankly lured in by her cover photo and the title of the book.
My observations of Ms. Tomalin are that of a very intelligent, talented, confident and fiercely strong woman. She is now in her early eighties, but recounts quite thoroughly and beautifully a very full life from her parents' marital union up to the present. She is the daughter of a French writer (father Emile) and a British composer (mother Muriel). Claire graduated from Cambridge University with an English degree, and set about a literary career which was quite varied and fruitful.
My favorite parts of the book were the "human" parts where she spoke of her romances, marriages, affairs and children. I loved reading about the house she and her husband purchased, which Claire lived in for forty years. Her memories of the neighborhood, its people and surroundings were quite enchanting passages to read, and I savored these. I also enjoyed reading about her less than perfect marriage to prominent journalist Nicholas Tomalin, her first husband. Together they had five children, although two met tragic ends and one was born with a physical disability. As I read this book, I marveled at this woman's strength in the face of unexpected losses, and her endless push to flourish in her journalistic career. Despite the chaos of what was happening in her personal life, she kept moving forward through literary jobs and book projects. She kept diaries throughout the decades which were crucial to recalling what's been a remarkable life.
Although Claire has been literary editor on papers such as the Sunday Times, her first love is writing books. She was finally able to be a full-time author later in life. Ms. Tomalin has written thoroughly researched and successful biographies of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, among others. Her methods of research in preparation for writing biographies were laid bare, such as literally walking in the footsteps of her subjects.
In summation, it was a pleasure reading this autobiography because of the fine writing style and interesting subject matter. Like some other biographies I've read where I know a lot about the subject already, I knew nothing about Claire Tomalin and found it a refreshing and interesting read. I wasn't always interested in the nuts and bolts of the lives of some of the biographies she was authoring, but I glossed over these and found the main subject of this autobiography fascinating in her own right.
Thank you to Penguin Publishing Group who provided an advance reader copy via Edelweiss.
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