This is Not a Pity Memoir

The heartbreaking and life-affirming bestseller from the creator of ERIC

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This is Not a Pity Memoir

By: Abi Morgan

Narrated by: Fiona Button

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About this listen

An ordinary day.
The end of ordinary life.

One morning in June, Abi had her to-do list - drop the kids to school, get coffee and go to work. Jacob had a bad headache so she added 'pick up steroids'. She returned home and found the man she loved and fought and laughed with for twenty years lying on the bathroom floor.

And nothing would ever be the same again.

But this is not a pity memoir. It's about meeting your person. And crazed late night Google trawls. It's about the things you wished you'd said to the person that matters then wildly over-sharing with the barista who doesn't know you at all. It's about sushi and the wrong shoes and the moments you want to shout 'cut'. It's about the silence when you are lost in space and the importance of family and parties and noise.

It's the difference between surviving and living.
It's a reminder that, even in the worst times, there is light ahead.

It's a love story.

(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited©2022 Abi Morgan

Abi MorganFiona ButtonJohn Murray

Grief & Loss

Marriage & Long-Term Partnerships

Personal Development

Relationships

Memoir

Heartfelt

Inspiring

Thought-Provoking

Grief & Loss Marriage & Long-Term Partnerships Personal Development Relationships Memoir Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

Took my breath away. . . I sobbed and laughed and then sobbed again. I think it puts life into perspective but also, by being a love story, it defies many of the norms. Morgan's unique voice rings out and she is a great companion throughout (Emma Barnett)

Extraordinary...utterly compelling and so honestly told (Nigella Lawson)

Every once in a while, a book comes along that causes me to undergo a genuine shift in perspective. Abi Morgan's This is Not a Pity Memoir had exactly this effect . . . heart breaking, profound and even funny (CRESSIDA BONAS)

Both very funny and as propulsive as a thriller...impossible to put down. (RACHEL COOKE)

There is not a trace of self-pity in Abi Morgan's heartbreaking memoir . . . full of humour, urgency and pathos, written in a staggeringly frank, intimate voice (CHARLOTTE CRIPPS)

Uplifting and powerful...highly recommended

Compelling . . . mordant humour and heart-warming beauty

This Is Not a Pity Memoir . . . hurtles along poetically, while managing to be funny and ultimately full of hope

With her trademark deadpan, trenchant wit, and a deeply soulful mindfulness, Abi Morgan takes a breathtaking hike on the cliff edge of a life upended by illness. By turns harrowing, cracking sharp and heartbreaking, it is comforting to accompany someone with her sense of humor and the absurd on this trip - this book is a gift to anyone who has been similarly unmoored by fate and the furies (MERYL STREEP)

Very moving but never sentimental, tough but never cynical . . . gripping, funny and always honest (DAVID NICHOLLS)

Truly breathtaking. Arrestingly honest, funny, profound and exquisitely written. I could not have loved it more (CAREY MULLIGAN)

I wept. I laughed. I dared to hope. I felt my heart crack. This book is life. It is exceptional (SAM BAKER)

The kind of book you will find yourself saying urgently, over and over, to friends: 'Have you read it?' (CAITLIN MORAN)

An extraordinary story told extraordinarily well. I don't know how Abi Morgan has managed to live through all this, let alone write such a fascinating, heartbreaking yet frequently funny book about it. It is so gripping I honestly couldn't put it down (MARINA HYDE)

Funny and brutally honest . . . an absolute insight for those of us lucky enough to never know life like this (PANDORA SYKES)

Incredibly powerful, moving, funny, honest & brave. I LOVED it (EDITH BOWMAN)

A mash-up of all the things I love in a book - honesty, comedy, pathos and what-happens-next. It's brutal - in a good way - but above all else it's a testament to kindness, stickability and enduring love (KIT DE WAAL)

A very moving and utterly absorbing story told with the surgical skill of the brilliant scriptwriter she is

A sharp, poignant and witty joy to read that will leave you energised and uplifted

Most relevant

I was in two minds about buying this book - whilst I love Abi Morgan’s work, I thought this could only prove to be a harrowing picture of the family’s life and I wasn’t sure I wanted to go on that journey with Abi and her family. But then, she’s a glorious writer, so what the hell, if anyone could make this material transformative, it’s Abi Morgan!

It’s a spiky, angry yet tender and moving account of what the family went through together over a period of around three years, it’s truthful, at times gut wrenching but the strength and love of their family and friends exudes from the page. It’s definitely a story that needed to be told. It’s an astonishingly brave thing to do, opening up your life to others during the most traumatic period you’ve ever experienced and say - well, this is us - for better or for worse.

I found the book sharp, funny and ironic in places, I learned that in times of real adversity it brings sufficient strength and love to the surface to just get stuck in and keep battling against the odds.

If this work is made into a screenplay, I hope it wins awards - and for Jacob I hope those award ceremonies bring cake, lots and lots of cake!

Wonderfully sympathetic reading of the material by Fiona Button.