Exit Wounds cover art

Exit Wounds

A Story of Life, Love and Occasional Wars

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Exit Wounds

By: Peter Godwin
Narrated by: Peter Godwin
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £23.99

Buy Now for £23.99

About this listen

Peter’s mother is dying. Born in England and having spent most of her adult life as a doctor in Zimbabwe, she now lies on a hospital bed in the partitioned living room of his sister’s London apartment, her accent having overnight become posher than the Queen’s. Unsentimental, fiercely stubborn and at times hilarious, she finally drops her guard, losing all fear of conflict to become the family provocateur.

While confronting the revelations of what his family was – and wasn’t – and the stoicism that sometimes threatened to destroy them, Peter also mourns the ending of his long marriage. At this point of rupture and healing, Peter reflects on his family’s legacy of exile and their tenuous hold on home.

In Exit Wounds: A Story of Love, Loss and Occasional Wars, Peter Godwin considers, with both tenderness and candour, the life of émigrés, exiles and refugees, and grieves the many losses that make life both magnificent and unbearable. He brings us into the spaces which make us question, suffer and celebrate the relationships we have among family and friends, and the healing of our own wounds.

©2024 Peter Godwin (P)2024 Canongate Books Ltd Cultural & Regional England Funny Witty War
All stars
Most relevant
Captured my imagination right from the start and kept me tuned in right until the end ....lots of the story resonated with me, having grown up in Africa and now living in the UK ....loved the book!

Brilliant read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Beautifully written . I want to re listen a thousand times to this BEAUTIFUL prose, Magnificent heartfelt recount of a wonderful life. one of the best books I have read for years. Evocative. Lyrical. Memorable .

Glorious!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This memoir could belong to any of us Rhodesian-Zimbabwean children. How our “tribe” have been ripped apart and spread around the world; Peter puts our aches and pains into words, how we as the children of a once incredible nation have had to start again. Watching as our parents hard work and dedication were slowly torn apart & the wrestling of life itself in their demise. Thank you Peter.

Beautifully worded

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book will make you laugh, cry and pause in awe at the artistic expression of all the seasons of our emotions.

Beautiful story, high quality prose

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I liked how sensitively, respectfully the author speaks about his mother, family, loss, marriage breakdown, African roots. I came away feeling sad, a kindred spirit torn between living in different continents. It does capture life and its unexpected turns. Beautifully written and well worth the read.

Relationships in family and how much they mean to us

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews