Ann Wroe (Ann Wroe – Economist) is an English author and columnist who has been the obituaries editor of The Economist since 2003. Her non-fiction books include biographies of Pontius Pilate, Percy Shelley and Perkin Warbeck.
Lifescapes is a dazzlingly original blend of memoir, biography, observation and poetry. Wroe reflects on the art and impossibility of fully capturing life on the page. Through her experiences and those of others, through people she has known, studied or merely glimpsed in windows, the author explores what makes a life and how that life lingers after. Wroe’s writing is full of wit, beauty and clarity.
Imagination is a central theme here. Wroe is a compulsive imaginer. She embroiders lives of people glimpsed on trains. To an apple tree, she ascribes its astonishment ‘at its own dropped fruit’. Before her son is born, she has already dreamed of him as a dark-haired adult who, somewhat outlandishly given his unborn status, is supplied by her subconscious with a tall black hat and an antique bicycle. The reader is left wondering whether poetry attributes more human feeling to things than they should be asked to carry. Wherever possible, Wroe prefers excursions in and out of dreams.
This is a thought provoking meditation on human life, and worth your time to read.
***A FINANCIAL TIMES, SUNDAY TIMES AND TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023***
** SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY**
224 pages in Jonathan Cape
First published 2023
ISBN-13 : 978-1787334458
