Edith Sollohub was the daughter of a high ranking Russian diplomat, living in luxury on a large estate in St Petersburg. Her lavish lifestyle was brought to a halt by the Russian Revolution of 1917. Edith was separated from her family and had to endure imprisonment, hunger and loneliness. The Russian Countess is her memoir, giving detailed descriptions of [...]
Posts under ‘Memoirs’
My Father’s Paradise – Ariel Sabar
Winner of National Book Critics Circle Award: Best Biography 2008 I bought this book after reading Violet’s review. I don’t read much non-fiction, but this one sounded too good to miss! My Father’s Paradise is written by journalist, Ariel Sabar, who decides to use his investigative skills to trace the history of his father, a man [...]
The Inner Circle – T.C. Boyle
The Inner Circle is the autobiography of the fictional John Milk, a sex researcher, working alongside the famous Alfred Kinsey. Regular readers of my blog will know that I have recently had problems with a few fictional biographies (Summertime and An Equal Stillness) and so had decided to avoid them for a while, but luckily I [...]
An Equal Stillness – Francesca Kay
< ?php echo amazonim('0297855492'); ?> Winner of the Orange Award for New Writers, 2009 < ?php echo amazon('0297855492','An Equal Stillness ‘); ?>is the biography of a fictional artist. It is a simple book about the life of a painter, her family and her passion for art. Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me - I’m not a [...]
Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi (Book and Film)
Persepolis is often quoted as being one of the best graphic novels in existence, so I have been wanting to read it for a while. It is an autobiography about what life was like for the author growing up in Iran and her experiences of being sent away to school in Austria. I’d describe Persepolis [...]
Me Cheeta – James Lever
Long listed for the Booker Prize 2009 This book caused quite a stir as soon as it was discovered on the Booker long list. It is a spoof memoir of the chimp who starred alongside Tarzan during the golden age of Hollywood. It has been described as: …the finest Hollywood memoir ever written. Craig Brown, Mail on Sunday [...]
