“Even more useful to a writer than a room of her own is an extension lead and a variety of adaptors for Europe, Asia and Africa.”

My thanks to Penguin U.K. for the invitation to review a digital copy via NetGalley of ‘Things I Don't Want to Know’ by Deborah Levy.

This is the first in Levy’s three part Living Autobiography. It was inspired by George Orwell’s essay ‘Why I Write’.

In its four sections Levy reflects upon her personal journey to become a writer, including memories of her childhood in South Africa and later in the U.K. The autobiographical sections were filled with anecdotes that were amusing and poignant.

I have enjoyed a few of Levy’s novels and was quickly drawn into this memoir. Her writing is lyrical and elegant; yet also conversational and utterly absorbing.

I found this very accessible and felt drawn into her world. Given its modest length I read it in a single sitting and look forward to continuing with the other two parts.

I’d enjoyed elements of several of her books (Swimming Home, Hot Milk and especially The Man Who Saw Everything). I thought her stories quirky, her dialogue taught and interesting but I found her characters sometimes hard to like and a couple of her stories I found a little soulless. So I thought it would be interesting to delve into the life of this author a little, to discover what experiences might have helped shape this person. But this is no ordinary autobiography: to start with it’s really very short - the first part of a trilogy of memoirs - and secondly its structure is really that of an extended essay, in fact a response to Orwell’s Why I Write.

Unfortunately, I haven’t read the Orwell piece so I’m not able to comment on this aspect. But it’s clear that the early pages are a response to something, with opinions and erudite quotes sprinkled amongst a brief account of a trip to Majorca. This trip occurred within the past ten years (her references to her writing confirms this) and it seems that the island provides a retreat she returns to when she needs to escape, to reflect and to refresh herself. In truth, it’s an island I’ve visited many times and always with some of the same outcomes in mind!

The remainder of the books touches on her early life in South Africa, a time in which her ANC supporting father was one day arrested and taken away – she wouldn’t see him again for four years. Then there’s a section when, as a teenager living in a North London suburb, she reflects on her time as a rebellious would be writer living ‘in exile’. These anecdotes paint vivid pictures of both time and place, and show something of what her early life must have comprised.

I’m not quite sure how to rate this one, there’s enough here to pull me back for part two but I had felt my mind wondering through the first section, in particular. It’s a taster menu when I was up for a full three courses with all the trimmings. I got a sense of things and enjoyed much of what was there, but without finding it fully satisfying. However, I’m in a generous mood so I’ll go with three and half stars rounded up to four.