This book was a worthy successor to [a:Deborah Levy|147246|Deborah Levy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1591038543p2/147246.jpg]'s last memoir, [b:The Cost of Living: A Working Autobiography|36820477|The Cost of Living A Working Autobiography|Deborah Levy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1513713760l/36820477._SY75_.jpg|58043514] as she attunes to her singlehood, considers the patriarchy, travels to France and Greece and Germany, converses with friends, reminisces about her South African childhood, and dreams of her un-real estate house, a rich imaginary figment she embellishes with objects throughout the book. Her writing is warm and familiar no matter the topic. Her characters lively and varied and useful challengers of her ideas. She writes beautifully of places, living spaces, reading matter, and her daily swims. Favorite quotes: (1)When a woman has to find a new way of living and breaks from the societal story that has erased her name, she is expected to be viciously self-hating, crazed with suffering, tearful with remorse. These are the jewels reserved for her in the patriarchy’s crown, always there for the taking. There are plenty of tears, but it is better to walk through the black and bluish darkness than reach for those worthless jewels. and (2) The line that means the most to me in the entire play is Hamlet’s reply when asked what it is he is reading. Words, words, words. ( )

This book is my fourth read by [a:Deborah Levy|147246|Deborah Levy|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1591038543p2/147246.jpg], and my first of her three autobiographies. What can I say . . . I love, love her writing. How does an author take the mundane and make it mysterious? The innocuous and make it intriguing? The routine and make it riveting? I have no idea, but that's the feelings Levy's books evoke in me. In this book, 60 year old Levy fantasizes about the perfect house and what that might look like and when she might finally live in it. As a divorced, empty nester, who seems to be living and writing in an array of locations and abodes, this longing for the one perfect piece of real estate seems more metaphorical than an actual goal. The reader gets a picture of her life, more of a kaleidoscope than linear, that touches on everything from parenting to feminism to (most interestingly to me) writing. She offers a philosophical point of view front and center that adds color to even the most simple acts. If you haven't read Levy before, I personally would start with [b:Hot Milk|26883528|Hot Milk|Deborah Levy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461535043l/26883528._SY75_.jpg|46932640] and not with the third book of her autobiography, but fans should love this work. I can't wait to read the first two volumes. ( )

I absolutely loved this. It was amazing all the way through, but she absolutely nailed the ending. I imagine this is a book I will read again and again. Deborah Levy's writing is incredibly crisp and clear, so easy and fast to read. She explores this theme of real estate, sometimes veering away from it only to come back to it loosely. In keeping with the theme, she does an amazing job of writing about place. From England to France to India to Greece, she goes all over the place, providing such a romantic description of her location and her days that you can't help but want to experience her life for a bit. But overall, I really felt like this book was about aging and how to be happy with what you don't have and what you do have. It made me feel very optimistic about the future. ( )

I really enjoyed this memoir from writer Deborah Levy, who fantasises about her dream home, still out of reach as she broaches 60. We follow her from London, Paris, Berlin, India and Greece as she reflects on places she has lived and dreams she has had, imagining the unreal estate she desires.

She is also in search of a female character, herself (as she becomes an empty nester) and for the page.

I hadn't realised I'd not yet read the middle volume of this memoir trilogy, so I will read that next. ( )

brilliant and wonderful ( )