Reckoning
A Memoir
by Magda Szubanski
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Pub Date Sep 23 2015 | Archive Date Sep 15 2015
Description
Heartbreaking, joyous, traumatic, intimate and revelatory, Reckoning is the book where Magda Szubanski, one of Australia’s most beloved performers, tells her story.
In this extraordinary memoir, Magda describes her journey of self-discovery from a suburban childhood, haunted by the demons of her father’s espionage activities in wartime Poland and by her secret awareness of her sexuality, to the complex dramas of adulthood and her need to find out the truth about herself and her family. With courage and compassion she addresses her own frailties and fears, and asks the big questions about life, about the shadows we inherit and the gifts we pass on.
Honest, poignant, utterly captivating, Reckoning will touch the lives of its readers.
If you had met my father you would never, not for an instant, have thought he was an assassin. Warmhearted, friendly, engaging, intelligent, genial, generous, humorous, honourable, affectionate, arrogant, blunt, loyal. He was a family man... you would never have guessed that he was capable of killing in cold blood. But he was. Poor bastard.
He was born in 1924. He was a boy of fifteen when Hitler invaded his homeland and the war began, and as soon as he was able he joined the fighting. All through our growing up he would say, ‘I was judge, jury, and executioner.’ He spent the rest of his life trying to come to terms with what he had done.
I grew up in the shadow of that reckoning.
In this extraordinary memoir, Magda describes her journey of self-discovery from a suburban childhood, haunted by the demons of her father’s espionage activities in wartime Poland and by her secret awareness of her sexuality, to the complex dramas of adulthood and her need to find out the truth about herself and her family. With courage and compassion she addresses her own frailties and fears, and asks the big questions about life, about the shadows we inherit and the gifts we pass on.
Honest, poignant, utterly captivating, Reckoning will touch the lives of its readers.
If you had met my father you would never, not for an instant, have thought he was an assassin. Warmhearted, friendly, engaging, intelligent, genial, generous, humorous, honourable, affectionate, arrogant, blunt, loyal. He was a family man... you would never have guessed that he was capable of killing in cold blood. But he was. Poor bastard.
He was born in 1924. He was a boy of fifteen when Hitler invaded his homeland and the war began, and as soon as he was able he joined the fighting. All through our growing up he would say, ‘I was judge, jury, and executioner.’ He spent the rest of his life trying to come to terms with what he had done.
I grew up in the shadow of that reckoning.
A Note From the Publisher
For further information please contact:
Jane Novak
(+61 3) 8610 4510
jane.novak@textpublishing.com.au
Jane Novak
(+61 3) 8610 4510
jane.novak@textpublishing.com.au
For further information please contact:
Jane Novak
(+61 3) 8610 4510
jane.novak@textpublishing.com.au
Advance Praise
‘A brave and tender book about everything that matters most in life.’—Cate Blanchett
‘This is a remarkable memoir. It weaves the tragedy of twentieth-century history into a personal narrative of coming to terms with family and self, and manages to honour both stories. The writing is assured and controlled, the storytelling expert and thoughtful, the language eloquent and moving. The writing, the story, the voice: all of it is beautiful.’—Christos Tsiolkas
‘This is a remarkable memoir. It weaves the tragedy of twentieth-century history into a personal narrative of coming to terms with family and self, and manages to honour both stories. The writing is assured and controlled, the storytelling expert and thoughtful, the language eloquent and moving. The writing, the story, the voice: all of it is beautiful.’—Christos Tsiolkas
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781925240436 |
| PRICE | A$49.99 (AUD) |
