There's something almost effortless about the way Deborah Levy seems to have constructed this book, which must obscure the work that's gone into it.  It could have been much longer and deals with difficult issues with a lightness of touch that is beguiling.  And it's often very funny.

I wasn't sure what to expect when coming into this autobiographical novel by Levy, but I had a suspicion it would be good. It certainly was! In it, Levy details the collapse of her marriage and the year that follows, when she finds herself in her fifties and forging her own path once more. Firstly, the writing is really compelling. There are parts that are poignant and other parts that are funny and throughout, Levy weaves the thread of the narrative so deftly that you cannot help but turn the pages. Secondly, it is such a strong demonstration of what it means to be a woman in modern society. Levy shows how many of her male associates only refer to women as so and so's wife or girlfriend and cements the place that women find themselves in their professional and personal lives. Anyone who has a passing interest in feminism should read this book. It isn't aggressive-just honest. I was blown away.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Towards the end of last year I picked up a collection of essays by Deborah Levy, entitled Things I Don't Want to Know. These essays were written as a feminist response to George Orwell's Why I Write, which I was reading at the time. I adored Orwell's writing but there was something about Levy's essay-formed responses that sparked something inside of me. When I saw her next volume of essays were due to be published, shortly after this, I knew I had to read them too, and was instantly sure I was going to adore them just as much.

This second volume is far more inwardly-turned than its predecessor. Much of the short anthology deals with more personal anecdotes, from the author's life, but I still found it an equally as important creation. She shares her personal history but also, alongside this, her ideas about gender construction and stereotypes in society and her negation of the expected, grief and healing and all the stages in between, and so much more than could ever conceivably seem to be packed into just over 100 pages of writing.

Her lyrical prose and ability to portray emotion in word remained of the sublime brilliance I already knew her to possess. I did not need a prior familiarity with Levy's fiction or her backstory to enjoy this, I only needed to open my heart and allow her sorrow and her fragility, but also her knowledge and her bravery, to consume me. This is an overwhelmingly powerful collection, which is almost brutal in its emotional assault. And I unreservedly adored it for that.

This is a wonderful memoir from an astonishing writer.  This will absolutely be in this years must reads and not just for those who appreciate Deborah Levy's novels.  The end of the writer's marriage may be the catalyst for this book but it beautifully covers her early years, her other relationships and the death of her mother.  

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Books for an advanced review copy.

I loved this book. It is a simple tale of a woman in middle age leaving a marriage and making her way in the world in a crap flat with two daughters and no reliable heating. The fact it is an "autobiography" by an award winning writer, adds to the enjoyment as I love reading about writers and how they manage their lives. I put autobiography in inverted commas, as this isn't a chronological step through of a life. It is a series of stories of how Ms Levy finds her way through a new landscape while writing several books, learning to ride her electric bike with shopping (it's important to choose your own fruit and veg) and accepting help and giving it as she grows. I don't want to make it sound stuffy as it is anything but. This is funny, moving, emotional and true. Some of the adventures (e.g. unblocking her ancient plumbing in strange garb and choosing what books to take to her writing shed) are several of those things at once. 

But for me the highlights of the book are when Ms Levy talks about her writing and her books. 

"The writing life is mostly about stamina. To get to the finishing line requires the writing to become more interesting than everyday life."

She is alive in these pages and I will now look out her novels and read/reread with a picture in my head of a strong, wise, witty woman sitting in a shed with an unlit log burner and copies of Heidegger and Plath..

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I just finished reading The Cost of Living: A Living Autobiography by Deborah Levy and I'm moved beyond words. It's out on 5th of April and not to be missed. One of Levy's best books yet. An unflinching look into the life of one of the best contemporary voices. The bits that stood out for me where the chapters about her mother's death and her rebuilding a life after marriage. I've always admired Levy's writing. But now I admire also her way of living.

This book is just a beautiful read, and inspiring, both spiritually and intellectually. It's the second installment of Levy's 'living autobiography', and it's an open, honest account of the author's personal and professional transformation after a life-changing event: the end of her marriage. What it is set to be an introspective recount then evolves into something much wider, involving references to the author's sources of inspiration (Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Duras), interesting characters who in different ways assist in her transformation, and in her wondering around the city on her e-bike, an element of psychogeography.

Beautiful, heartbreaking and above all, radical. I recommend Deborah Levy to everyone interested in writing, storytelling and female voices.

This is the second part of Levy’s "living autobiography". The first part is Things I Don't Want to Know which consisted of 4 short essays/memoirs relating events from different times in Levy’s life in response to the four motivations for writing identified by Orwell in his essay "Why I Write". This second part is a non-fiction novel that takes us through a turbulent period in Levy’s life (the break up of her marriage and the death of her mother which occurred within about a year of one another). Instead of being about the motivation for writing, it is more about the process of writing, or perhaps, the way writing continues in the midst of turmoil and in the midst of just ordinary life (whenever that happens!).

"When I wasn’t writing and teaching and unpacking boxes, my attention was on mending the blocked pipes under the basin in the bathroom. This involved unscrewing all the parts, placing a bucket under the pipes and not knowing what to do next."

"The writing life is mostly about stamina. To get to the finishing line requires the writing to become more interesting than everyday life…"

"To sip strong aromatic coffee from midnight to the small hours always brings something interesting to the page."

There are meditations on womanhood and motherhood, and on the influence of patriarchy, as there are in part one, but there is a consistent movement forward with each short section definitely feeling like the next chapter of the story which is different to the way part one was structured. Both work, but this book flows more because it is a story from beginning to end rather than 4 episodes and because there are frequent references back to earlier parts (there are also reference to part one of the biography and to others of Levy’s works). We meet characters who come alongside Levy as she works through her separation and her grief, who give her a place to write, who offer support and friendship. We are with her as her mother dies. 

And, in the midst of all this, she is writing. For those of us who have read her novels, it is fascinating to see references to Swimming Home and Hot Milk as they take shape (the movie of one and the book of the other) and see events in Levy’s life that have influenced the way those novels developed.

And I loved some of the details. For example, very early on in the book (ebook read from NetGalley, so no page numbers) we read of Gertrude Stein

"Apparently Stein thought it is obvious when something is a question so she stopped using question marks…"

Then, almost at the end of the book, Levy talks to a fellow passenger on a train to France explaining that the French for apple is a feminine word. The girl responds

"'La pomme,' she said, frowning, but what she actually said was, 'La pomme?' as if she wasn’t too sure that was right, which is why she was frowning."

No fuss made, but I thought it was a lovely comment on the usefulness of question marks in the text.

I found the whole story beautifully told and often, especially towards the end, very moving. As with the first part, it is very short and I would have been happy for it to continue for much longer.

My thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley.

A collection of short, thoughtful pieces from Levy that range from her separation from her husband to a meeting about filming her 'Swimming Home'. Anyone who has read Levy will not be surprised by her attention to the constrictions and constructions of gender ('This is what I resented most, that my mind had been abducted and was full of Him. It was nothing less than an occupation'). Knowing little about her other than a couple of her novels, I was interested to see that we share some literary heroines: Simone de Beauvoir, Emily Dickinson, Marguerite Dumas.

My only negative comment is that this is extremely short, I probably read it in about an hour - interesting, for sure, with some depth of thought and emotion despite the brevity of the pieces.