Margaret Atwood; the cover of Margaret Atwood’s ‘Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts’.Photo:Ruven Afanador; Doubleday
Ruven Afanador; Doubleday
It’s official: aMargaret Atwoodmemoir is finally coming.
The 85-year-old literary icon — known for works likeThe Handmaid’s Tale,Cat’s EyeandThe Blind Assassin— is releasing her long-awaited memoir, publisher Doubleday announced on Tuesday, Feb. 11.
Slated for a Nov. 4 release,Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sortspromises to explore the Toronto-based author’s life and work, from her childhood in Canada to the writing ofThe Handmaid’s Taleto the present day. And, according to the author herself, it is brimming with moments of horror, joy and everything in between.
“I sweated blood over this book – there was too much life to stuff in, and if I’d died at 25 like John Keats, it could have been shorter – but I also laughed a lot,” Atwood said in a statement to Doubleday.
Doubleday
A memoir, the author continued, “is what you can remember, and you remember mostly stupid things, catastrophes, revenges and times of political horror, so I put those in – but I also added moments of joy, and surprising events and, of course, the books. I hope you’ll have as much fun readingBook of Livesas I did writing it.”
From the two-time Booker Prize winner’s telling of her own “unconventional start,” she “unfolds the story of her life, linking seminal moments to the books that have shaped our literary landscape, from the cruel year that spawnedCat’s Eyeto the Orwellian 1980s of East Berlin where she wroteThe Handmaid’s Tale,” the synopsis explains.
Margaret Atwood.Ruven Afanador
Ruven Afanador
The memoir will not only detail the legendary novelist’s early days and literary career, however — it will also delve into her personal life, from star-studded interactions to her relationship with longtime partner Graeme Gibson, who died in 2019. (The couple share a daughter, Eleanor Atwood Gibson, together.)
“In pages bursting with bohemian gatherings, her magical life with the wildly charismatic writer Graeme Gibson and major political turning points, we meet poets, bears, Hollywood actors and larger-than-life characters straight from the pages of an Atwood novel,” the synopsis promises. “As we travel along with her inBook of Lives,more and more is revealed about her writing, the connections between real life and art — and the workings of one of our greatest imaginations.”
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Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sortscomes out Nov. 4, 2025, and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
source: people.com
