Memory Maps

Description

"I am a wanderer: one with a hoarder's love of houses and things... I am tracing here a memory map of all the places that have stayed with me and, since this is also a map of all the voyages of discovery, this is also the story of the getting to those places." In Memory Maps, probably her most personal book, Lisa St Aubin de Teran charts a life spent in all corners of the world, from Wimbledon to the Venezuelan Andes, from the Caribbean to Ghana, and confesses to wanderlust and fate as being her chief guides. An itinerant lifestyle creates an unpredictable personal life, though, and Lisa writes movingly about being the support for three children by three different husbands and also, of the pain of failing to be strong.

Reviews

'Sensual impressionistic prose that recreates vividly her experiences' THE TIMES 'Its power leaves you awed and grateful and eager to flick to the start and, with trembling fingers, begin again' SCOTSMAN 'Beautifully written' DAILY EXPRESS 'Truly superb pieces of writing' IRISH TIMES 'Compelling and quixotic' GUARDIAN 'The book has a river-like quality: the journey is unpredicatable but enlightening, and a delight at every turn.' IMAGE

Author description

Lisa St Aubin de Teran was born in London in 1953. She has written novels, poetry, two collections of short stories and two memoirs of her time in Italy. The Hacienda, her memoir of her young marriage in Venezuela, was published in 1997 and received enormous acclaim.