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The Cost of Living
The Cost of Living
Sep 21, 2024 4:04 PM

Author:Deborah Levy

The Cost of Living

A GUARDIAN BEST BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURY

WINNER OF THE PRIX FEMINA ETRANGER 2020

Following on from the critically acclaimed Things I Don't Want to Know, discover the powerful second memoir in Deborah Levy's essential three-part 'Living Autobiography'.

'I can't think of any writer aside from Virginia Woolf who writes better about what it is to be a woman' Observer

_________________________________

'Life falls apart.

We try to get a grip and hold it together.

And then we realise we don't want to hold it together . . .'

The final instalment in Deborah Levy's critically acclaimed 'Living Autobiography', Real Estate, is available now.

_________________________________

'I just haven't stopped reading it . . . it talks so beautifully about being a woman' Billie Piper on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs

'It is the story of every woman throughout history who has expended her love and labour on making a home that turns out to serve the needs of everyone except herself. Wonderful' Guardian

'Wise, subtle and ironic, Levy's every sentence is a masterpiece of clarity and poise . . . a brilliant writer' Daily Telegraph

'A graceful and lyrical rumination on the questions, "What is a woman for? What should a woman be?"' Tatler

'Extraordinary and beautiful, suffused with wit and razor-sharp insights' Financial Times

Reviews

Deborah Levy is a most generous writer. What is wonderful about this short, sensual, embattled memoir is that it is not only about the painful landmarks in her life - the end of a marriage , the death of a mother - it is about what it is to be alive. I can't think of any other writer aside from Virginia Woolf who writes better about the liminal, the domestic, the non-event, and what it is to be a woman... This is a little book about a big subject. It is about how to find a new way of living

—— Observer

Extraordinary and beautiful, suffused with wit and razor sharp insights

—— Financial Times

It is the story of every woman throughout history who has expended her love and labour on making a home that turns out to serve the needs of everyone except herself... A piece of work that is not so much a memoir as an eloquent manifesto for what Levy calls 'a new way of living' in the post-familial world

—— Guardian

Ingenious, practical and dryly amused... This is a manifesto for a risky, radical kind of life, out of your depth but swimming all the same

—— New Statesman

Wise, subtle and ironic, Levy is a brilliant writer... Each sentence is a small masterpiece of clarity and poise. That shed should be endowed with a blue plaque

—— Telegraph

A heady, absorbing read

—— Evening Standard

This, from Deborah Levy, is exceptional. A memoir of life, art and separation. How to write when you're broke, have no writing space, are a parent. Also: crushed chickens, electric bikes, plumbing. Out in May and an early contender for one of the books of the year

—— Sinead Gleeson

Both memoir and feminist manifesto, her writing focuses so sharply on what it means to be alive that she's given me much-needed clarity...Levy subtly informs us about what it is to be a woman.

—— Vogue

Forget what you think you know about women in business. Raegan is here to surprise and inspire you to write your own rules to achieve your career dreams. She is a remarkable woman with a remarkable story everyone can learn from

—— Rosie Pope , Founder & Creative Director

Moya-Jones is a force to be reckoned with. Funny, creative, and full of courage and charming sass. What It Takes will give you the tools you need to create your own success story

—— Sarah Kauss , S’well, Founder & CEO

Confessions of a Menopausal Woman has given me all the valuable information and insights I need to make an informed decision about HRT, diet and exercise. Reading it felt like talking to my best friend - all the questions I had were answered and I am now a very happy menopausal woman! I highly recommend this book to any woman going through the change. It really does hold your hand through the minefield that is the menopause.

—— Saira Khan, TV and radio presenter, entrepreneur

In fact, I'd say Philippa Perry is one of the wisest, most sane and secure people I've ever met

—— Decca Aitkenhead, Sunday Time Magazine

she writes with an inquisitive elegance rarely found in parenting guides (...) the book is still firm with parents but also forgiving (...) it is forgiving and persuasive - God, it's persuasive. I've yet to meet a parent who hasn't altered their parenting to some degree after reading it, myself included

—— Hadley Freeman, the Guardian

I'm going to be honest Philippa, this has genuinely had such a positive impact on my life and my relationship with my daughter - so thank you very much for that

—— Josh Widdicombe

A wise book on parents and children

—— The Times

The main message is that is that it's best to acknowledge, rather than dismiss, children's feelings (...) and that parenting is not about perfection

—— i Newspaper

I've had the most wonderful feedback from this episode. People stopping me on the street to say how much they've love the book's advice. Philippa's wisdom and delivery has resonated with many parents out there. I can't thank her enough for her time and energy

—— Fearne Cotton , Happy Place podcast

It is like a letter from a wise friend who happens to have done years of research (...) I am grateful for it

—— Aida Edemariam, The Guardian

A wise book on parents and children

—— Saturday Times

The main message is that is that it's best to acknowledge, rather than dismiss, children's feelings (...) and that parenting is not about perfection

—— iWeekend

[Segal] is a natural, fluent writer and, in this book, the reader will feel confident in her hands even as she explores a shattering episode in family life… Segal is brilliant at conveying the tedium and the trials of life in the ICU and beyond. In short, Mother Ship is simply compelling

—— Anne Garvey , Jewish Chronicle

Hopeful, harrowing…and darkly funny, Mother Ship has you laughing, crying and frantically turning the pages to discover how it all turns out

—— Sarah Hughes , i

[Segal’s] words are a powerful, poetic and deeply affecting reminder of how precious are life, health and the everyday

—— Daily Express

Segal's moving memoir reveals not only what it takes to keep premature babies alive, but also what it means to be human and a mother

—— Vogue, *Summer reads of 2019*

Mother Ship is a huge achievement for Segal, who has produced a memoir that promises to linger with you like a literary earworm… an extraordinary testament to the power of human survival

—— Jackie Annesley , Sunday Times

Vivid, fearless and inspiring… This is an intimate and electrifying memoir. It is a hymn to the sustaining power of women's friendships, and a loving celebration of the two small girls – and their mother – who defy the odds

—— SheerLuxe, *Summer reads of 2019*

A deeply moving, yet also witty and heart-warming account

—— Wendy Bristow , Planet Mindful, *Summer Reads of 2019*

[Segal] captures beautifully the complexities and contradictions of the human body

—— Laura Hackett , Times Literary Supplement

An ode to the companionship of the women on the neonatal ward in the darkest, most volatile days, it is moving but never mawkish

—— Phoebe Luckhirst , Evening Standard, *Books of the Year*

A song of praise to the beleaguered, indomitable NHS, with writing at such a pitch that it lingered with me all year

—— Olivia Laing , Observer, *Books of the Year*

A heart-tugging account… this is one of the year’s most exquisitely written books

—— Claire Allfree , Metro, *Books of the Year*
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