Lifescapes

This thought-provoking and beautifully written book blends memoir with poetry and biography in search of what elements can evoke the character of a person * Financial Times, *Books of the Year* *
'I think of my work as catching souls,' writes Ann Wroe, the obituaries editor of The Economist, at the start of this book... How she goes about capturing them all is a fascinating business * Sunday Times, *Books of the Year* *
Beautifully written, the prose witty, twisting and sensuous, but it is sharp, too * The Times *
What a treat it is to read a writer at the top of her game... Astonishing... Lifescapes is the universe in miniature * Daily Telegraph *
Evocative and beautifully written * Financial Times *
She's a genius, I believe, because she lights up every subject she touches -- Hilary Mantel, author of Wolf Hall
A fervent investigation into personhood... This book is full of valiant attempts to reach the hidden, inmost and yet most expansive meaning of being * Literary Review *
On the back page of the Economist, the recently departed breathe one last time. Every week I read her first and marvel at the alchemy that produces her beautiful words. Now, thanks to Lifescapes, I begin to understand from whence her shining gift has come -- Peter Hennessy, author of The Silent Deep
A rare and beautiful book. Like an aurora borealis or an elusive spherical fish, Ann Wroe's writing performs a merger of substance and form. Reading her, your perception shift to a higher octave. If you want to experience a mystery - how the world's soul moves under the skin of this reality - read this book -- Kapka Kassabova, author of Elixir
Ann Wroe is a poet of the particular. Her prose, as tightly woven as a rush basket, frequently breaks into song. Lifescapes is a masterly celebration of the world, and of the peculiar and glorious predicament of its inhabitants -- John Banville, author of The Sea