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A memoir unlike any you will read, this is a gorgeously written, unputdownable look at the life of Maggie O’Farrell, one of my favorite novelists, and in particular, the seventeen times this particular life has almost ended.

If Maggie appears to have more than the “normal” amount of brushes up against her mortality, perhaps it is to be expected. As we will learn, through each of the vignettes she paints for one of her near-death experiences (purposively not presented to us in date order), many of the author’s later encounters, undertaken with what may seem like impulsivity and even recklessness, may have their genesis in some of her earlier childhood experiences.

No spoilers here (I strongly encourage you to read the book), — the resulting composite is an astounding and beautiful testament to a life, to all life, with all its travels, terrors, heartache and yearnings, as the author’s exceedingly well-articulated humanness unfolds for us.

I literally could not stop reading this book, — with several of the chapters chilling me to the bone, and others breaking my heart, the complex and compelling vision formed of the author, piece by piece, is as illuminating as it is arresting. Maggie has lived (and continues to live) a life that begs to be written about, and this reader, for one, is grateful that she has done so.

A library book that called out to me from the shelves, this is a memoir for lovers of this author, of memoirs as a genre, or of simply wonderful writing.

Read it. ❤️