Paper Houses: A Memoir of the 70s and Beyond

Description

Rebellion, revolution, experimental living, feminist communes, street theatre, radical magazines, love affairs - gay and straight - sex, drugs and rock and roll. Mich le Roberts, one of Britain's most talented and highly acclaimed novelists, now considers her own life, in this vibrant, powerful portrait of a time and place: alternative London of the 1970s and beyond. A fledgling writer taking a leap into radical politics, Roberts finds alternative homes, new families and lifelong friendships in the streets and houses of Holloway, Peckham, Regent's Park and Notting Hill Gate. From Spare Rib to publishing her first book, Paper Houses is Roberts' story of finding a space in which to live, love and write - and learning to share it. 'Beguiling, enthusiastic, charming and vivid, this is an autobiography to be savoured' Amanda Craig, DAILY TELEGRAPH

Michele Roberts, poet and short-story writer, reviewer and broadcaster, is the author of many novels, including the prize-winning Daughters of the House. She is now Professor of Creative Writing at University of East Anglia.

** 'She is the eternal female vagabond, somewhere between the gypsy and the lunatic, with the freedom, pain and visionary nature of both' AMANDA CRAIG, DAILY TELEGRAPH ** 'Told from the perspective of an intelligent woman with acute powers of observation. Her writing is vivid and sardonic by turns, the period brought to life with accounts of clothes and meals, whose importance Roberts (unlike many other writers) has always understood.' JOAN SMITH, INDEPENDENT ** 'Roberts's sensuous, uninhibited, often beautiful writing is filled with lush and lavish descriptions of food and places and people and love affairs.' JESSICA MANN, LITERARY REVIEW ** 'The 12 novels she has produced... are remarkable imaginings of houses and landscapes and the desire for aquisition. This beguiling memoir travels the rootlessness that inspired them.' PENNY PERRICK, SUNDAY TIMES ** 'Radical politics, feminist theatre troupes, demos, communes, all while smoking and drinking her head off. Paper Houses is an honest, moving account of a talented woman fighting to prioritise her life-goals and roles.' METRO