A Life of My Own: A Memoir
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A Life of My Own: A Memoir Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Claire Tomalin (Author), Penelope Wilton (Narrator), Tantor Audio (Publisher)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,008 ratings
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Esteemed biographer and legendary literary editor Claire Tomalin's stunning memoir of a life in literature.

In A Life of My Own, the renowned biographer of Charles Dickens, Samuel Pepys, and Thomas Hardy, and former literary editor for the Sunday Times reflects on a remarkable life surrounded by writers and books. From discovering books as a form of escapism during her parents' difficult divorce, to pursuing poetry at Cambridge, where she meets and marries Nicholas Tomalin, the ambitious and striving journalist, Tomalin always steered herself towards a passionate involvement with art. She relives the glittering London literary scene of the 1960s, during which Tomalin endured her husband's constant philandering and numerous affairs, and revisits the satisfaction of being commissioned to write her first book, a biography of the early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. In biography, she found her vocation. However, when Nick is killed in 1973 while reporting in Israel, the mother of four put aside her writing to assume the position of literary editor of the New Statesman. Her career soared when she later moved to the Sunday Times, and she tells with dazzling candor of this time in her life spent working alongside the literary lights of 1970s London. But, the pain of her young daughter's suicide and the challenges of caring for her disabled son as a single mother test Claire's strength and persistence. It is not until later in life that she is able to return to what gave her such purpose decades ago, writing biographies, and finds enduring love with her now-husband, playwright Michael Frayn.

Marked by honesty, humility, and grace, rendered in the most elegant of prose, A Life of My Own is a portrait of a life, replete with joy and heartbreak. With quiet insight and unsparing clarity, Tomalin writes autobiography at its most luminous, delivering an astonishing and emotionally taut masterpiece.

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  1. Listening Length
    9 hours and 38 minutes
  2. Author
    Claire Tomalin
  3. Narrator
    Penelope Wilton
  4. Audible release date
    December 28, 2018
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Tantor Audio
  7. ASIN
    B07LFHPS54
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 9 hours and 38 minutes
Author Claire Tomalin
Narrator Penelope Wilton
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date December 28, 2018
Publisher Tantor Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B07LFHPS54
Best Sellers Rank #292,514 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#1,167 in Biographies of Authors
#2,849 in Biographies of Women
#9,368 in Author Biographies

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
1,008 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

lynn nadjarian
5.0 out of 5 stars Life is not a picnic
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2019
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I loved tge book, the writing draws you on! Quite a story, a literary star! The ages she has lived through from s womens point of view, she made her way, despite all the barriers in her way n family problems. I am in awe of her determination.
One person found this helpful
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hibernicus707
4.0 out of 5 stars Hearing an interview of Tomalin shifted my impression of this book
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2019
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I found this book quite fine but, like a few other commentators, I found Ms. Tomalin's tone a bit diffident and even opaque. Specifically, I wondered how such a woman managed to survive a rocky childhood, an early and difficult marriage ending in early widowhood, raising several children, the loss of two children and the serious disability of a third-- all the while staying near the top of a highly competitive profession. Then I heard Ms. Tomalin being interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air. Her obvious strength and (at age 85) energy told a more complete story. While the pictures in the book show Ms. Tomalin as a less than imposing figure, her commanding voice is as poshy and adamantine as any royal's. (It could have been Princess Anne's voice.)

A closer reading of the book partially debunks the notion that Ms. Tomalin managed to "have it all"-- marriage, children, career. Eventually she had all of those things at different times, but not all at the same time for long. When she was a married mother of small children, her career was far less prominent. When she was a widowed mother who needed to make a living, she had a career and children, but no marriage. The "secrets" of her success have been health into old age and incredible energy (which you're born with, or not), an ever-vigilant eye for opportunity, and an ability to endure very long stretches of hard times (and, presumably, loneliness) bravely and cheerfully.
25 people found this helpful
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Ulysses D'Aquila
5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional writer and human being.
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2024
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Claire Tomalin is without a doubt one of our finest authors of biographies. Her work on Samuel Pepys, particularly, will likely never be surpassed. In deciding to write about her own life, she has taken a rather different tact. Accustomed to hours of research into archives, here she simply consults her own memory and her journals to encapsulate a life full of, yes, literary triumphs, but also a full share of human tragedy and suffering. Without ever painting herself as a saint -- she's far too honest for that -- she nonetheless comes across in this memoir as a great survivor. Her achievements as writer (and friend of writers) are remarkable, but equally so is her personal accomplishment of a life well-lived.
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My Cup of Tea
3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and wearying
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2018
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Claire Tomalin's writing about her childhood and education are wonderfully evocative. Her portrait of her marriage and motherhood are finely wrought. I also liked her writing about her career, but there is entirely too much name dropping and not enough development of the fascinating people she has known.
5 people found this helpful
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Kate Parrick
5.0 out of 5 stars Owning all of it
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2018
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I wept with joy in the closing pages of the memoir of one of the best biographers of my adult life. What a tour de force. What a contribution. This is a great, fascinating read; it is profoundly important that young women see what their earlier sisters did to establish the right to and capacity of women for meaningful work. I have loved Tomalin’s biographies for years and now I know the writer behind them is at least as wonderful and fascinating as any of her subjects. Thank you, Claire.
32 people found this helpful
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Spontaneous one
4.0 out of 5 stars Some busy life ! !
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2017
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A great read of an interestingly rough and tumble life. Her book on Samuel Pepys is superb .
5 people found this helpful
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Max Martini
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written and absorbing
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2019
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Beautifully written. Saw her book on a wall Street Journal list of best books of 2018 and decided to give it a try even though I have never heard of her. So glad I did. She exudes humanity and personal warmth, and I found myself totally captivated. I’m now reading her biography of Samuel Pepys, which is also excellent.
One person found this helpful
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fantundo
5.0 out of 5 stars high recommendation
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2019
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She is a superb writer, and her memoir is very matter of fact, despite a lot of tragedy. She's not looking for revenge or sympathy. Her relationships with other leading British authors of her time are fascinating. If you love British literature, you will love this book.
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Netta
5.0 out of 5 stars A Memoir for all Times
Reviewed in Canada on February 25, 2018
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This book is an invaluable memoir for other women who grew up between 1960 and 1980 in Britain and who wanted both a public intellectual life and emotional fulfillment.It is a model of female autobiography ,full of passion,fairness,restraint and unsentimentality.She recounts her story ,providing a clear-eyed view of her family,her relationship with her husband and her lovers and her indefatigable and necessary pursuit of an paid,intellectual career.Countless women of that time will identify with her frank view of the courage needed to counter the powerful "nay-sayers",both men and women , whom she encountered.Claire Tomalin shows the fortitude,respect and compassion needed by women to journey through life, to survive and thrive.
Her understated account of her family life and her literary and professonal experience is also invaluable for young women in 2018.While the times may have seemed to change,women still need self-knowledge and courage to fit their desires into the conflicting roles they are expected to fulfill.Claire Tomalin is their mentor.
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RAFAEL LÓPEZ MONTES
2.0 out of 5 stars Demasiados nombres desconocidos.
Reviewed in Spain on August 4, 2019
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He leído casi todas las biografias de Claire Tomalin y me esperaba algo más íntimo y personal. Hay páginas memorables, sobre todo cuando habla del suicidio de su hija o la invalidez de su hijo, pero por lo demás chismorreo de casa editorial.
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Phillips Lindsay
5.0 out of 5 stars A double life
Reviewed in Italy on January 13, 2018
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Claire Tomalin had two lives: a working life as a journalist and writer,and another as a mother. She managed both of them well with success. She cared for a handicapped son who, with her, built himself an independent life and she has given us some fascinating and well-researched biographies, of literary figures like Thomas Hardy and Mary Wollenstonecraft, that she has drawn with great sensitivity and insight. This brilliant autobiography reveals the hard work that went into her work and her parallel life dealing with every day problems, at the same time describing the intellectual world she moved in.
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Jude
1.0 out of 5 stars Not a great read.
Reviewed in Canada on September 29, 2019
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Perhaps good if you are British. For a Canadian simply a name dropper for unknown people. Not a personal novel.
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grazia
5.0 out of 5 stars A Life of My Own
Reviewed in Italy on February 1, 2019
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Claire Tomalin è una vecchia conoscenza ( vedi il suo libro su Jane Austen di qualche anno fa), scrive in un ottimo inglese. Non posso esprimere un giudizio sul contenuto perché inizierò la lettura tra poco. La spedizione di Worldofbooksit è stata puntuale e corrispondente alle aspettative.
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