Oleander, Jacaranda
Book description
Using memories of her childhood among the privileged expatriate society of Egypt in the 1930s, Penelope Lively provides a slice of autobiography which is also an exploration of childhood perception. In snapshots of recollection, we build up a picture of her happy, self-absorbed early years in a familiar land of…
Why read it?
1 author picked Oleander, Jacaranda as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I've chosen this one not only because it's about growing up in Cairo, where I spent five years of my adult life as a teacher in an international school, but also for its astute analysis of how and why the memories we form in childhood differ fundamentally from those we acquire as adults. Another reason for its inclusion on my list is that it belongs to two childhood memoir subgenres for which I have a particular penchant, those by authors raised by people who were neither their biological nor adoptive parents and those by under-appreciated women novelists.
From Auriel's list on memoirs that read like novels.
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