A Life Of One's Own: Nine Women Writers Begin Again

'A beautiful, deeply philosophical book about reading as a form of existential consolation' Literary Review
'Acute and tender . . . alive with discovery and desire' Observer
'A meditation, by turns glorious and aching, on what it means to be a woman and to try to be free' Amia Srinivasan
'A gift to readers of all ages. Engaging . . . poignant . . . uplifting' Washington Post
'I adored this book . . . a generous, enlivening work, destined to be passed from friend to friend for a long time to come' Megan Hunter

In this intricate, intimate and dazzlingly original group biography, Joanna Biggs looks to eight revolutionary women writers who each sought freedom and intellectual fulfilment in their lifetimes and asks: why is it so important for women to read one another? By illuminating the motivations, desires and disappointments of Mary Wollstonecraft, George Eliot, Zora Neale Hurston, Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Sylvia Plath, Toni Morrison and Elena Ferrante, Biggs lights a way past the traditional goals and expectations of femininity and towards a life lived generously and joyfully for oneself.

'A beautiful, deeply philosophical book about reading as a form of existential consolation . . . wonderfully inconclusive, moving and original . . . a brilliant exploration of uncertainty and a compelling anti-guide to art and life' - LITERARY REVIEW

'Acute and tender . . . alive with discovery and desire' - OBSERVER

'[Biggs] explores how exceptional writers of the past might guide today's women in charting a path after life-altering events. The result is a moving biblio-memoir that's a gift to readers of all ages. Engaging . . . poignant . . . uplifting' - WASHINGTON POST

'[An] absorbing, eccentric book. Alongside Biggs's search for a way to be a woman apart from being a wife is her search for a way to be a writer apart from being a critic. On the evidence of A Life of One's Own, she has found it' - NEW YORKER

'In this trenchant and wide-ranging book, Biggs writes about starting over after divorce while seeking wisdom from a canon of great female authors. In Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, George Eliot, Simone de Beauvoir, Elena Ferrante and others, Biggs finds inspiration, advice and cautionary tales that shade her experience' - NEW YORK TIMES (19 Works of Nonfiction to Read This Spring)

'Book lovers will swoon over this smart meditation on life and writing' - PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY

'A powerful collective portrait of women writers who are often only studied via their isolated exceptionalism . . . An enlightening meditation on the intersections of art and freedom' - KIRKUS

'By laying down the conventional tools of contemporary criticism, that arsenal of theories and various lenses (Marxist, feminist, Lacanian etc.), Biggs meets us on equal terms, as a fellow reader - a quietly defiant act. If personal criticism like A Life of One's Own succeeds in returning the craft to its original purpose, and thus to a larger audience, then it is very welcome' - ENGELSBERG IDEAS

SPECIFICATIONS:

Author:Joanna Biggs - Джоанна Биггс

Publisher:Orion

Language:English

Publication Date:2024

Number of pages:272 pst

Format:Paperback

Width:126 mm / 5'

Height:196 mm / 7,7'

Weight:240 g

ISBN:9781474621243