Born in Carlisle, Margaret Forster was the author of many successful and acclaimed novels, including Have the Men Had Enough?, Lady's Maid, Diary of an Ordinary Woman, Is There Anything You Want? , Keeping the World Away, Over and The Unknown Bridesmaid. She also wrote bestselling memoirs - Hidden Lives, Precious Lives and, most recently, My Life in Houses - and biographies. She was married to writer and journalist Hunter Davies and lived in London and the Lake District. She died in February 2016, just before her last novel, How to Measure a Cow, was published.
This is a lovely and touching evocation of what home means to one woman, and within this is a universality that many will connect with -- Shirley Whiteside * Herald * Like sitting down for tea with a highly intelligent woman and chatting, not so much about a room of one's own as a home of one's own ... fascinating and touching * Spectator * In both books and homes, we find wry humour and a great deal of poignancy -- Sarah Franklin * Sunday Express * Reads like one of Forster's well-loved novels: full of sharp observation and gentle wit -- Bel Mooney * Daily Mail * Until its shocking, throat-catching end, this latest book is a deceptively simple trek evoking everywhere [Margaret Forster] has lived -- Melanie Reid * The Times * Such a clever idea. It's a memoir sited in bricks and mortar... social and personal history spliced together -- Penelope Lively * Guardian BOOKS OF THE YEAR * A beautiful exploration of her life in relation to the homes she has made' -- Rachel Joyce * Observer BOOKS OF THE YEAR * I was truly moved by Margaret Forster's ingeniously structured and beautifully written memoir... A really wonderful book -- Juliet Nicolson * Evening Standard BOOKS OF THE YEAR *