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Motherwell
- A Girlhood
- Narrated by: Gabriel Quigley
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
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Motherwell
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Summary
The number three Sunday Times best seller.
Just shy of 18, Deborah Orr left Motherwell - the town she both loved and hated - to go to university. It was a decision her mother railed against from the moment the idea was raised. Win had very little agency in the world, every choice was determined by the men in her life. And strangely, she wanted the same for her daughter. Attending university wasn't for the likes of the Orr family. Worse still, it would mean leaving Win behind - and Win wanted Deborah with her at all times, rather like she wanted her arm with her at all times. But while she managed to escape, Deborah's severing from her family was only superficial. She continued to travel back to Motherwell, fantasising about the day that Win might come to accept her as good enough. Though of course it was never meant to be.
Motherwell is a sharp, candid and often humorous memoir about the long shadow that can be cast when the core relationship in your life compromises every effort you make to become an individual. It is about what we inherit - the good and the very bad - and how a deeper understanding of the place and people you have come from can bring you towards redemption.
Critic reviews
"Raw, compelling, wise and tender." (Dolly Alderton)
"Motherwell is razor-sharp, fearless and wonderful." (Adam Kay)
"Utterly candid and staggeringly good, both as the history of a woman and the history of a place." (India Knight)
What listeners say about Motherwell
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- M. Flynn
- 03-05-20
Brilliant
This is the best audio book I’ve ever listened to. It is honest and well read.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jan
- 20-05-21
So much identification with Deborah
Living in Lanarkshire myself I had a trip down memory lane with this story. Deborah brought the area to life with her description of 1980s Lanarkshire.
The story was funny in places and very sad in others. Writing this book took a lot of courage.
I would recommend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- sludge_beast
- 18-01-21
Fantastic autobiography
This is an insightful memoir of a girl growing up into a typical working class family in Scotland. It is witty and pithy. And will resonate with anyone growing up at that time anywhere of any gender or social class. Psychologically I learned a few things too! Beautiful narration.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- rosemaryk2006
- 05-03-20
Good Account Of A Working Class 60s Girlhood
The story is interesting, honest and well narrated. Enjoyable, yet poignant, because of author's death.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 08-02-20
A life unfolding
The clarity of the writing and the unsentimental vision of her childhood made this book compelling.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 05-03-20
What a wonderful story
A story about family and their own relationships with one another. Even more powerful because Deborah Orr died RIP.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Charlotte McLean
- 11-06-20
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Fascinating listen about growing up in post war Scotland and commentary on mother daughter relationships.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Hannah Buckingham
- 28-04-20
Incredible memoir focusing on trauma
I had not heard of Deborah Orr, but for some reason when this book came up in my recommended audio books I knew that I had to get it. Now I will recommend this book to everyone I know, because it is so raw and so important. If you are interested in trauma, complex family relationships/ childhood, then I wholeheartedly recommend this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sian M.
- 26-08-21
A breathing, complex memorial to family love.
I seldom completely enjoy books that come with high recommendations. They start with a disadvantage - they have something to prove. They entertain but they don’t compel me to return to them. Motherwell is an extraordinary exception. If I’d read it, rather than listened to it, it would have had many page corners folded over. Some passages capture the (in) humane experience that is life in a family so precisely and exactly that I rewound to hear them again. The simple, clear, no excuses tale of the Orrs, parents - John & Wynne, brother David and the young child and the older Deborah is so beautifully executed, it should be read by all mothers & daughters. When I sat O levels a set text was Laurie Lee’s ‘Cider with Rosie’. A well written memoir of a boy and a man. Motherwell is the story of a girl, a woman and her family, how they narcissistically nurtured and lovingly harmed her - bringing their own flaws to bear as they tried to form, shape and control her life. It should be read and re-read.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sara
- 30-05-24
Wonderful Narration of Sad Story
This was a wonderful performance of a deeply honest book. A reflection on what was at times a difficult, at times a very normal life, through the lens of an incredibly intelligent woman who forever lived with the type of low self esteem that left her vulnerable to maltreatment. In contrast with a confidence and will to make her own life successful, which she really did, in the eyes of the world, but not her parents.
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