PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Ann Wroe is the Obituaries editor of The Economist, and has written its weekly obituary for almost two decades. She is the author of eight previous works of non-fiction, including biographies of Pontius Pilate (shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Award and the W.H. Smith Award), Perkin Warbeck, Shelley, Orpheus (winner of the Criticos Prize) and St Francis. She lives in Brighton and London.
Wroe — obituaries editor of The Economist — contends with the myriad details that can bring someone fleetingly back to life on the page. This thought-provoking and beautifully written book blends memoir with poetry and biography in search of what elements can evoke the character of a person * FT, Books of the Year 2023 * Seamlessly merges scenes from the author’s life with the overflow from her admirably humane Economist obituaries, whose subjects, she writes, “whether famous or unknown … have enhanced the world by their existence”. This glimpse of Wroe at work, enriched with stories from her private notebooks, is a treat akin to, borrowing her words, “wild plums fallen in the grass” * TLS, Books of the Year 2023 * She's a genius, I believe, because she lights up every subject she touches -- Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall Beautifully written, the prose witty, twisting and sensuous, but it is sharp, too * The Times * What a treat it is to read a writer at the top of her game... Astonishing... Lifescapes is the universe in miniature * Daily Telegraph * Ann Wroe is a poet of the particular. Her prose, as tightly woven as a rush basket, frequently breaks into song. Lifescapes is a masterly celebration of the world, and of the peculiar and glorious predicament of its inhabitants -- John Banville, author of The Sea A brave, unfashionable and out of the ordinary book… A delight… Lifescapes encourages us to take a deep breath, contemplate life more keenly and acknowledge the miraculous if – and when – we find it * Observer * On the back page of the Economist, the recently departed breathe one last time. Every week I read her first and marvel at the alchemy that produces her beautiful words. Now, thanks to Lifescapes, I begin to understand from whence her shining gift has come -- Peter Hennessy, author of The Silent Deep This is biography as empathy and even hyper-empathy… Wroe operates like a kind of tuning fork… She seems to feel the energy that thrums in people, nature and objects… Compelling * Times Literary Supplement * A rare and beautiful book. Like an aurora borealis or an elusive spherical fish, Ann Wroe's writing performs a merger of substance and form. Reading her, your perception shift to a higher octave. If you want to experience a mystery - how the world's soul moves under the skin of this reality - read this book -- Kapka Kassabova, author of Elixir
