Real Estate

Highly reminiscent of A Room of One’s Own in contemporary society, this autobiography (third and last in her living trilogy) is an exceptional window into the life of the author. Set across various European cities as she moves to create temporary homes from which to write, the book is as funny as it is philosophical. We’re introduced to key characters in her life, who come to visit or whom she in turn visits; amongst the simple but significant artifacts in her un-real estate - a banana tree, turmeric silk sheets, a pair of antic wooden horses, a pair of character shoes.

The book is littered with quotes from which she has drawn inspiration or finds connection through, and it is all pulled together with a string of fantasies about a home she can neither afford nor place in reality. This straight forward framework encourages the threading of whispered ideas and thoughts shared by most women I know, pegging them up together in a line - not to solve a problem, but to ground it - to give it room to breath.

It seemed to me all over again that in every phase of living we do not have to conform to the way our life has been written for us, especially by those who are less imaginative than ourselves.

The only other book by Levy I’ve read so far is Hot Milk (which I loved), and this made me very excited to read more of her work. I’m not sure if this one will be for everyone, but it suited my late-winter melancholy, existentialism and dreams of swimming in hotter climates.