AS FEATURED ON DESERT ISLAND DISCS, BIG SCOTTISH BOOK CLUB AND THE ZOE BALL BOOKCLUB, A BOOK OF THE YEAR IN THE SUNDAY TIMES, THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, IRISH TIMES, OBSERVER, RED and THE TELEGRAPH.
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE FOR MEMOIR AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY 2018*
I AM, I AM, I AM is a memoir with a difference – the unputdownable story of an extraordinary woman’s life in near-death experiences. Insightful, inspirational, gorgeously written, it is a book to be read at a sitting, a story you finish newly conscious of life’s fragility, determined to make every heartbeat count.
A childhood illness she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. A terrifying encounter on a remote path. A mismanaged labour in an understaffed hospital. Shocking, electric, unforgettable, this is the extraordinary memoir from Costa Novel-Award winner and Sunday Timesbestselling author Maggie O’Farrell. It is a book to make you question yourself. What would you do if your life was in danger, and what would you stand to lose?
*SHORTLISTED FOR THE PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE FOR MEMOIR AND AUTOBIOGRAPHY 2018*
I AM, I AM, I AM is a memoir with a difference – the unputdownable story of an extraordinary woman’s life in near-death experiences. Insightful, inspirational, gorgeously written, it is a book to be read at a sitting, a story you finish newly conscious of life’s fragility, determined to make every heartbeat count.
A childhood illness she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. A terrifying encounter on a remote path. A mismanaged labour in an understaffed hospital. Shocking, electric, unforgettable, this is the extraordinary memoir from Costa Novel-Award winner and Sunday Timesbestselling author Maggie O’Farrell. It is a book to make you question yourself. What would you do if your life was in danger, and what would you stand to lose?
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Reviews
Exceptionally accomplished and emotionally sophisticated
A mystical howl, a thrumming, piercing reminder of how very closely we all exist alongside what could have happened, but didn't
It's a prayer for perspective that reminds readers to see every dodged bullet as the gift of new life and a reminder not to sweat the small stuff
A profoundly affecting, powerful and life-affirming book. If you only read one memoir this year, make it O'Farrell's
O'Farrell has a compelling and arresting writing style that fills in a scene quickly and engagingly, to great dramatic and narrative effect
One of the most life affirming reads of the summer
I can count on one hand the books that made me cry, and still have two fingers spare. I Am, I Am, I Am is one of them
O'Farrell's emotional acuity makes it a powerful account of a determined and thoughtful life. Her fiction is always a masterclass in empathy and the same is true of I Am, I Am, I Am which lingers even longer in the memory for being drawn from real life.
A remarkable and life-affirming autobiography
I have never read a book about death that has made me feel so alive. Beautifully observed, exquisitely written, Maggie's memoir is a heart-stopping, addictive read. She has raised the bar on memoir to a height few others will reach
A beautiful, strangely reassuring read
Quite simply astonishing... reminds the reader of the fierce joy of being alive. To my mind, I AM, I AM, I AM is Maggie O'Farrell's greatest work to date
Maggie O'Farrell is a highly accomplished author with seven novels to her name but she achieves something altogether more powerful and direct in this astonishing memoir... Each chapter is an accomplished piece of memoir writing in its own right. The cumulative effect is extraordinary and I felt my understanding of what it means to be a human and a mother grew. Where other writers may be playing with paper, O'Farrell takes up a bow and arrow and aims right at the human heart
Extraordinary. A beautiful testament to courage and grace under fire without an ounce of self-pity
I have never read a book about death that has made me feel so alive. A heart-stopping, addictive read
I adored every minute. A triumph
By turns chilling, terrifying, deeply moving, funny, recognisable, wild, simple, complicated. A rich celebration
It is absolutely, in every possible sense of the word, brilliant. It shines with wit and candour and insight. It is spectacularly moving, funny, impeccably controlled, artful and sincere. It's a gift
The final chapter is one of the boldest and most terrifying things I have read this year
She is a breathtakingly good writer, and brings all her elegance and poise as a novelist to the story of her own life
Leaves the reader feeling breathless, grateful and fully alive. Maggie O'Farrell is a miracle in every sense. I will never forget this book
[An] extraordinary memoir... uncomfortable and compelling... fluent, poised, packed with colourful details
If you want evidence that life can be just as dramatic as fiction, you couldn't wish for better than Maggie O'Farrell's stunning memoir
I AM, I AM, I AM is a gripping and glorious investigation of death that leaves the reader feeling breathless, grateful, and fully alive. Maggie O'Farrell is a miracle in every sense. I will never forget this book
A remarkable book
It's a memoir replete with courage, heartbreak and optimism: the most life-affirming book of the year
A mesmerising read