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Elisabeth's Lists: A Family Story
Many years after the death of her grandmother, Lulah Ellender inherited a curious object - a book of handwritten lists.
On the face of it, Elisabeth's lists seemed rather ordinary - shopping lists, items to be packed for a foreign trip, a tally of the eggs laid by her hens. But from these everyday fragments, Lulah began to weave together the extraordinary life of the grandmother she never knew - a life lived in the most rarefied and glamorous of circles, from Elisabeth's early years as an ambassador's daughter in 1930s China, to her marriage to a British diplomat and postings in Madrid under Franco's regime, post-war Beirut, Rio de Janeiro and Paris. But it was also a life of stark contrasts - between the opulent excess of embassy banquets and the deprivations of wartime rationing in England, between the unfailing charm she displayed in public and the dark depressions that blanketed her in private, between her great appetite for life and her sudden, early death.
Throughout Elisabeth's adult life, the lists were a source of structure and comfort. And now, as Lulah learns that she is losing her own mother, she finds herself turning to her grandmother's life, and to her much-travelled book of lists, in search of meaning and solace.
Elisabeth's Lists is both a vivid memoir and a moving study of the familial threads that binds us, even beyond death.
On the face of it, Elisabeth's lists seemed rather ordinary - shopping lists, items to be packed for a foreign trip, a tally of the eggs laid by her hens. But from these everyday fragments, Lulah began to weave together the extraordinary life of the grandmother she never knew - a life lived in the most rarefied and glamorous of circles, from Elisabeth's early years as an ambassador's daughter in 1930s China, to her marriage to a British diplomat and postings in Madrid under Franco's regime, post-war Beirut, Rio de Janeiro and Paris. But it was also a life of stark contrasts - between the opulent excess of embassy banquets and the deprivations of wartime rationing in England, between the unfailing charm she displayed in public and the dark depressions that blanketed her in private, between her great appetite for life and her sudden, early death.
Throughout Elisabeth's adult life, the lists were a source of structure and comfort. And now, as Lulah learns that she is losing her own mother, she finds herself turning to her grandmother's life, and to her much-travelled book of lists, in search of meaning and solace.
Elisabeth's Lists is both a vivid memoir and a moving study of the familial threads that binds us, even beyond death.
336 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2018
20 people are currently reading
506 people want to read
About the author
Lulah Ellender
4 books8 followersLulah lives in East Sussex with her husband, four children and various animals. She loves to tend her garden, walk on the beautiful South Downs and swim outdoors.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 17, 2020
I remember seeing an interview on television with Lulah Ellender, the author of Elisabeth's Lists: A Life Between the Lines. This biography of her grandmother, which she pieced together after being given a book of the varied lists which she had made during her lifetime, really piqued my interest, and I subsequently borrowed a copy from my local library. I thought that the book would be surrounded by quite a lot of buzz; rather, I was surprised to find that when I looked on the Goodreads page to mark it as 'currently reading', the book had just 30 ratings, and 8 reviews.
This Granta publication has been described by the Guardian as 'a hauntingly beautiful
meditation on life and death', and by the London Review of Books as 'a perceptive and original book... as much a meditation on the meaning of lists as it is a biography.' The Spectator says that 'Ellender researches, uncovers, interprets, comments and responds to the life of her grandmother with uninhibited insight.'
The inspiration for Elisabeth's Lists came when Ellender's mother gave her 'a curious object - a book of handwritten lists'. From these, all of which were, on the surface, quite ordinary, she began to 'weave together the extraordinary life of the grandmother she never knew, from Elisabeth's early years as an ambassador's daughter in 1930s China to her marriage to a British diplomat and postings in Franco's Madrid, post-war Beirut, Rio de Janeiro and Paris.' The lists in Elisabeth's notebook were written between 1939 and 1957, the year in which she died. They encompass many things; from 'an inventory of household linen to a record of the number of eggs her chickens laid over the course of a year, Elisabeth itemised her days, page after page...'.
Ellender, facing the impending death of her mother from cancer, finds solace in these lists. The 'small red-brown marbled hardback journal' was passed to her, she says, as her mother was 'not sure what to do with it and thinks I might like it. But there is a spark in her eyes. She knows it is no ordinary book; she is giving it to me so that I can find things, dig down into my family's past and show her the treasures I uncover. She is entrusting me with her mother's story.'
Ellender goes on to note in her prologue the rules which she made for herself whilst writing Elisabeth's Lists: 'It is important to me that Elisabeth's story is told as faithfully as possible, but I am also acutely aware that this is my reading of her, and that other people may have constructed a different version of this same person.'
I am a prolific list-maker myself, and read with interest the historic practices of list-making which Ellender covers, and which span as far back as writing itself. She writes of the power which making a simple list gives us: 'We formulate endless lists of our top films, books or music, of things to do and places to see before we die, as though they might provide both proof of our existence and a legacy for future generations. We believe that a list can make us immortal.'
The chapters within Elisabeth's Lists are split into geographical places in which Elisabeth either lived, or spent time. Born in 1915, Elisabeth's 'short life was characterised by movement and displacement. The book of lists mirrors this constant shifting, with numerous lists for various diplomatic postings and items to be put into storage.' Many of these postings, and the subsequent instability of her life, were bound up with the mental illness which Elisabeth suffered from for a long time. When living in Peking (now Beijing) in her early twenties, for instance, Ellender writes: 'Some days her world is blanketed in a crepuscular shroud, people and objects are dim and far away and she feels as if she is standing alone in a vast, empty expanse. Sometimes she just wants to go home.'
This concept of home, too, is an interesting one, which I feel deserved more space in the book. When the family move back to London from Peking, Elisabeth is initially excited, but negativity soon begins to creep in: 'She knows that she "ought" to be feeling happy to be back but she is, in fact, lost and desperate... She also describes times of feeling unbearably restless, her mind in turmoil, of being violently antisocial and staying in bed for two days of depression.' There is much historical content included in Elisabeth's Lists, and for the most part this has been well handled. Ellender particularly excels at writing about wartime, and how her grandmother, stationed in Madrid, dealt with it.
When Elisabeth gets married, her book of lists 'becomes a reference point from which she will run her household, and to which she will turn in times of anxiety and bustle and joy.' She records inventories of wedding presents, of property; lists of guests for the many parties which she threw; menus for entertaining... Photocopies of some of Elisabeth's lists have been included in the book; unfortunately, these are often blurred, faint, and not at all easy to read. This is a real shame, given that the entire biography was inspired by, and is based around, them.
I prefer reading biographies of ordinary people to famous ones; they tend to offer so much more with regard to the real world. Nothing about Elisabeth can really be considered ordinary; she travelled so much more than many people of her time, and lived with a lot of privilege. As Ellender notes, 'Elisabeth's was an extraordinary existence: a curious mixture of maintaining a British way of life, and discovering the authentic essence of a place. Looking back over the places she lived we see an existence built on impermanence and marked by contrasts.'
Elisabeth's Lists is certainly readable, but I did feel as though some portions of it were quite overwritten. The prose feels a little too flowery, and too overdone at times. There is an imagined narrative from Elisabeth's perspective, which uses the present tense; for instance: 'It is morning. Elisabeth crouches on a patch of dusty soil, draping some clothes on a rock to dry. A canvas tent flaps behind her, and nearby, a kettle splutters over a fire.' Similar sections have been placed randomly throughout the narrative, and seem like something of a creative writing exercise, really; they add very little to the main body of text. Throughout, Ellender asks a lot of questions which she never then proposes an answer to; this practice became annoying quite quickly. The assumptions which she makes, too, are unnecessary.
I liked the central idea behind this biography, but overall, it did not feel entirely satisfying. Elisabeth's Lists really appealed to me as a reader, but some sections felt overworked. The assumptions and imagination of Ellender feel repetitive very quickly, and the tone is overwhelmingly simpering in places.
This Granta publication has been described by the Guardian as 'a hauntingly beautiful
meditation on life and death', and by the London Review of Books as 'a perceptive and original book... as much a meditation on the meaning of lists as it is a biography.' The Spectator says that 'Ellender researches, uncovers, interprets, comments and responds to the life of her grandmother with uninhibited insight.'
The inspiration for Elisabeth's Lists came when Ellender's mother gave her 'a curious object - a book of handwritten lists'. From these, all of which were, on the surface, quite ordinary, she began to 'weave together the extraordinary life of the grandmother she never knew, from Elisabeth's early years as an ambassador's daughter in 1930s China to her marriage to a British diplomat and postings in Franco's Madrid, post-war Beirut, Rio de Janeiro and Paris.' The lists in Elisabeth's notebook were written between 1939 and 1957, the year in which she died. They encompass many things; from 'an inventory of household linen to a record of the number of eggs her chickens laid over the course of a year, Elisabeth itemised her days, page after page...'.
Ellender, facing the impending death of her mother from cancer, finds solace in these lists. The 'small red-brown marbled hardback journal' was passed to her, she says, as her mother was 'not sure what to do with it and thinks I might like it. But there is a spark in her eyes. She knows it is no ordinary book; she is giving it to me so that I can find things, dig down into my family's past and show her the treasures I uncover. She is entrusting me with her mother's story.'
Ellender goes on to note in her prologue the rules which she made for herself whilst writing Elisabeth's Lists: 'It is important to me that Elisabeth's story is told as faithfully as possible, but I am also acutely aware that this is my reading of her, and that other people may have constructed a different version of this same person.'
I am a prolific list-maker myself, and read with interest the historic practices of list-making which Ellender covers, and which span as far back as writing itself. She writes of the power which making a simple list gives us: 'We formulate endless lists of our top films, books or music, of things to do and places to see before we die, as though they might provide both proof of our existence and a legacy for future generations. We believe that a list can make us immortal.'
The chapters within Elisabeth's Lists are split into geographical places in which Elisabeth either lived, or spent time. Born in 1915, Elisabeth's 'short life was characterised by movement and displacement. The book of lists mirrors this constant shifting, with numerous lists for various diplomatic postings and items to be put into storage.' Many of these postings, and the subsequent instability of her life, were bound up with the mental illness which Elisabeth suffered from for a long time. When living in Peking (now Beijing) in her early twenties, for instance, Ellender writes: 'Some days her world is blanketed in a crepuscular shroud, people and objects are dim and far away and she feels as if she is standing alone in a vast, empty expanse. Sometimes she just wants to go home.'
This concept of home, too, is an interesting one, which I feel deserved more space in the book. When the family move back to London from Peking, Elisabeth is initially excited, but negativity soon begins to creep in: 'She knows that she "ought" to be feeling happy to be back but she is, in fact, lost and desperate... She also describes times of feeling unbearably restless, her mind in turmoil, of being violently antisocial and staying in bed for two days of depression.' There is much historical content included in Elisabeth's Lists, and for the most part this has been well handled. Ellender particularly excels at writing about wartime, and how her grandmother, stationed in Madrid, dealt with it.
When Elisabeth gets married, her book of lists 'becomes a reference point from which she will run her household, and to which she will turn in times of anxiety and bustle and joy.' She records inventories of wedding presents, of property; lists of guests for the many parties which she threw; menus for entertaining... Photocopies of some of Elisabeth's lists have been included in the book; unfortunately, these are often blurred, faint, and not at all easy to read. This is a real shame, given that the entire biography was inspired by, and is based around, them.
I prefer reading biographies of ordinary people to famous ones; they tend to offer so much more with regard to the real world. Nothing about Elisabeth can really be considered ordinary; she travelled so much more than many people of her time, and lived with a lot of privilege. As Ellender notes, 'Elisabeth's was an extraordinary existence: a curious mixture of maintaining a British way of life, and discovering the authentic essence of a place. Looking back over the places she lived we see an existence built on impermanence and marked by contrasts.'
Elisabeth's Lists is certainly readable, but I did feel as though some portions of it were quite overwritten. The prose feels a little too flowery, and too overdone at times. There is an imagined narrative from Elisabeth's perspective, which uses the present tense; for instance: 'It is morning. Elisabeth crouches on a patch of dusty soil, draping some clothes on a rock to dry. A canvas tent flaps behind her, and nearby, a kettle splutters over a fire.' Similar sections have been placed randomly throughout the narrative, and seem like something of a creative writing exercise, really; they add very little to the main body of text. Throughout, Ellender asks a lot of questions which she never then proposes an answer to; this practice became annoying quite quickly. The assumptions which she makes, too, are unnecessary.
I liked the central idea behind this biography, but overall, it did not feel entirely satisfying. Elisabeth's Lists really appealed to me as a reader, but some sections felt overworked. The assumptions and imagination of Ellender feel repetitive very quickly, and the tone is overwhelmingly simpering in places.
February 7, 2019
‘Elisabeth’s Lists’ by Lulah Ellender is a gem! I was hooked from the very beginning and it is incredibly moving and thought-provoking.
The beautifully crafted book is an eloquent memoir based on the life of Lulah’s grandmother. A life recorded in meticulous detailed lists; lists which were entrusted to Lulah by her own mother.
The lists started during Elisabeth’s childhood whilst growing up in 1930s China. Just as her father was a diplomat, so was her husband, Gerry and her world travels continued into adulthood. The lists, many innocuous and of everyday items, included information about packing, dinner parties, price of food and even the names of hens and number of eggs laid. The lists are endless. A touching heirloom in their own right, they have been transformed into a moving and heartfelt book by Lulah. Her research and dedication are superlative and the end result is a sweeping and engrossing story of Elisabeth’s life.
Postings abroad included Madrid under Franco’s regime, post-war Beirut and Rio. In sharp contrast Elisabeth endured the hardship and deprivation of bombings and food rationing in England during World War Two, whilst at the same time finding a certain peace and harmony as a normal suburban housewife, away from the hectic duties of a diplomat’s wife. Throughout the book the various eras are exquisitely captured and provide a vivid impression of the times.
It was not all a joyous time however, as occasional bouts of depression, some post-natal, forced Elisabeth to seek medical care and time away from the family. Furthermore, a family tragedy darkened her life.
The book develops into a deeply profound study as Lulah weaves the threads of her own life and that of her mother into the memoir. The three generations of women effectively become the focus of this family story; their lives remarkably intertwined and the memoir gives not only insight and comfort about motherhood, family, and loss to Lulah but also to the reader.
Even more heartbreaking and poignant is that the book is written whilst Lulah’s mother is terminally ill with the cancer; the very disease which killed Elisabeth when her daughter was only nine-years-old. As Lulah delves deeper into Elisabeth’s life she finds some solace and acceptance in her own life; a process which she describes with exceptional clarity and feeling.
As she must feel, I believe that without our past, our present is unclear, our future unnavigable.
To conclude, ’Elisabeth’s Lists’ is an enriching, gifted and rewarding book and one I highly recommend.
The beautifully crafted book is an eloquent memoir based on the life of Lulah’s grandmother. A life recorded in meticulous detailed lists; lists which were entrusted to Lulah by her own mother.
The lists started during Elisabeth’s childhood whilst growing up in 1930s China. Just as her father was a diplomat, so was her husband, Gerry and her world travels continued into adulthood. The lists, many innocuous and of everyday items, included information about packing, dinner parties, price of food and even the names of hens and number of eggs laid. The lists are endless. A touching heirloom in their own right, they have been transformed into a moving and heartfelt book by Lulah. Her research and dedication are superlative and the end result is a sweeping and engrossing story of Elisabeth’s life.
Postings abroad included Madrid under Franco’s regime, post-war Beirut and Rio. In sharp contrast Elisabeth endured the hardship and deprivation of bombings and food rationing in England during World War Two, whilst at the same time finding a certain peace and harmony as a normal suburban housewife, away from the hectic duties of a diplomat’s wife. Throughout the book the various eras are exquisitely captured and provide a vivid impression of the times.
It was not all a joyous time however, as occasional bouts of depression, some post-natal, forced Elisabeth to seek medical care and time away from the family. Furthermore, a family tragedy darkened her life.
The book develops into a deeply profound study as Lulah weaves the threads of her own life and that of her mother into the memoir. The three generations of women effectively become the focus of this family story; their lives remarkably intertwined and the memoir gives not only insight and comfort about motherhood, family, and loss to Lulah but also to the reader.
Even more heartbreaking and poignant is that the book is written whilst Lulah’s mother is terminally ill with the cancer; the very disease which killed Elisabeth when her daughter was only nine-years-old. As Lulah delves deeper into Elisabeth’s life she finds some solace and acceptance in her own life; a process which she describes with exceptional clarity and feeling.
As she must feel, I believe that without our past, our present is unclear, our future unnavigable.
To conclude, ’Elisabeth’s Lists’ is an enriching, gifted and rewarding book and one I highly recommend.
August 5, 2019
A disappointing book overall. I thought it would have interesting lists made by an interesting mind, but they were bourgeois, usually barely readable--come on, at least make the reproductions useful-- and not illuminating. The biography the writer was trying to spin from these and her grandmother's papers didn't materialize. She had a life of incident and "importance" in society and she died young, which automatically seems to add interest for some people. But this was another disappointing foray into memoir. I started reading it on top of my other (so far excellent book) because it's from Interlibrary Loan and needed to go back. It's going back all right.
August 21, 2020
At times I wonder if my search for Elizabeth is purely escapist, taking me further away from the person I need to be to deal with what lies ahead. But I come across some research at Emery University which finds a correlation between the depth of knowledge of a family history and the ability to cope with hardships and feel in control of one’s own life. Nostalgia – story – builds identity, adding to the layers of memories we have laid down for ourselves and linking us indeliblly with our forebears. And at this moment it is exactly what I need. I hold on to the thread.
This is one of many reflective passages which link the strands of Lulah’s grandmother Elizabeth's life with her own, and which make the book a rewarding read. The story itself is that of the daughter of a diplomat, who later becomes the wife of one. She travels to places as far flung as China, Madrid, Rio , Beirut with all the uncertainties that a state of war entails. The diplomatic circle is an enclave which often appears divorced from its surroundings. Elizabeth revels in the excitement of parties, without losing sight of the emptiness at the heart of it. Bereft of the stimulation of new places, she is prone to bouts of depression.
Lulah never knew her grandmother. She is given lists her grandmother kept, mundane lists of items to pack, or to buy, lists of food for entertaining. .There are interesting disquisitions on list making and what they reveal about us, and about our need to bring some order into our chaos. They are starting points, which will lead Lulah to delve into the rich diaries Elisabeth kept, and to undertake further research. A picture emerges of a woman with a fun sense of humour, in love with life, a life which at its heart carries a certain poignancy, for we know she will die young, and this poignancy is mirrored by the progress of Lulah's own mother’s cancer.
The quote at the beginning of this review is so apposite to what I felt during a stressful period of my life, when I “escaped”, and also felt guilty of escaping, by writing of my own childhood and youth, and what I knew of my grandparents and the place they came from. Apart from the need to occupy myself, I explained to myself that it was important to record memories before they dwindled into nothing.
Lulah weaves in quotes and examples from other sources, with very pleasing turns of phrase. The observations she makes strike a chord.
She thinks of lists that go back as far as writing itself. They are all pervasive. Think of the catalogue of ships in the Odyssey. Of lists that classify, such as those by the explorer Alexander von Humblolt, as well as the gruesome lists of Nazi Germany.
These catalogues hold our chaos, they become a bridge between the moment of thought and the moment of action, and make sense of our tumbling ideas,. We formulate endless lists of our top films, books, or music, of things to do and place to see before we die, as though they might provide both proof of our existence and a legacy for future generations. We believe that a list can make us immortal.
By visiting Elisabeth’s family home The Fishery in Maidenhead, LE comes full circle.
(It) became a container of her loss, a place where she could find the presence of her parents and relive her happier memories. The heartbeat of the house steadied her. I recall these lines from John Donne
Yet nothiing can to nothing fall,
nor any place be empty quite.
“Although the old house no longer stands, the land, the river, the trees all hold these people who once lived there. This place will always be home for my mother, for my cousins and now for their children who live in the enw house, buildig their own set of memories, etchig their mark on the trees and kayaking along the backwater. Elisabeth lives on through these new generations
Although she is aware of the pitfalls of tracing someone else’s life through lists, photographs and diary entries, she has become better acquainted with her unknown grandmother. She has evoked her presence, the value of kinship and continuity, and at the same time begun to feel more at one with her own mother.
….
This is one of many reflective passages which link the strands of Lulah’s grandmother Elizabeth's life with her own, and which make the book a rewarding read. The story itself is that of the daughter of a diplomat, who later becomes the wife of one. She travels to places as far flung as China, Madrid, Rio , Beirut with all the uncertainties that a state of war entails. The diplomatic circle is an enclave which often appears divorced from its surroundings. Elizabeth revels in the excitement of parties, without losing sight of the emptiness at the heart of it. Bereft of the stimulation of new places, she is prone to bouts of depression.
Lulah never knew her grandmother. She is given lists her grandmother kept, mundane lists of items to pack, or to buy, lists of food for entertaining. .There are interesting disquisitions on list making and what they reveal about us, and about our need to bring some order into our chaos. They are starting points, which will lead Lulah to delve into the rich diaries Elisabeth kept, and to undertake further research. A picture emerges of a woman with a fun sense of humour, in love with life, a life which at its heart carries a certain poignancy, for we know she will die young, and this poignancy is mirrored by the progress of Lulah's own mother’s cancer.
The quote at the beginning of this review is so apposite to what I felt during a stressful period of my life, when I “escaped”, and also felt guilty of escaping, by writing of my own childhood and youth, and what I knew of my grandparents and the place they came from. Apart from the need to occupy myself, I explained to myself that it was important to record memories before they dwindled into nothing.
Lulah weaves in quotes and examples from other sources, with very pleasing turns of phrase. The observations she makes strike a chord.
She thinks of lists that go back as far as writing itself. They are all pervasive. Think of the catalogue of ships in the Odyssey. Of lists that classify, such as those by the explorer Alexander von Humblolt, as well as the gruesome lists of Nazi Germany.
These catalogues hold our chaos, they become a bridge between the moment of thought and the moment of action, and make sense of our tumbling ideas,. We formulate endless lists of our top films, books, or music, of things to do and place to see before we die, as though they might provide both proof of our existence and a legacy for future generations. We believe that a list can make us immortal.
By visiting Elisabeth’s family home The Fishery in Maidenhead, LE comes full circle.
(It) became a container of her loss, a place where she could find the presence of her parents and relive her happier memories. The heartbeat of the house steadied her. I recall these lines from John Donne
Yet nothiing can to nothing fall,
nor any place be empty quite.
“Although the old house no longer stands, the land, the river, the trees all hold these people who once lived there. This place will always be home for my mother, for my cousins and now for their children who live in the enw house, buildig their own set of memories, etchig their mark on the trees and kayaking along the backwater. Elisabeth lives on through these new generations
Although she is aware of the pitfalls of tracing someone else’s life through lists, photographs and diary entries, she has become better acquainted with her unknown grandmother. She has evoked her presence, the value of kinship and continuity, and at the same time begun to feel more at one with her own mother.
….
December 12, 2021
Liked this at first as love lists myself and could identify with Elisabeth. But some of the parts become too long winded as if she had to put in every moment of her grandmother’s life so she could capture it all. Great for her family but too long for me.
September 29, 2021
Liked the idea of this book and the premise sounded interesting. Certainly Elisabeth led an interesting life but at times the narrative was spoiled by the author’s need to link the story with her own current experiences and it felt forced.
February 9, 2020
This is a stunning book. It reminded me of so many parts of my own history- what are seemingly everyday lists are transformed within the context of family
March 18, 2018
Many years after the death of her grandmother, Lulah Ellender inherited a curious object – a book of handwritten lists.
On the face of it, Elisabeth’s lists seemed rather ordinary – shopping lists, items to be packed for a foreign trip, a tally of the eggs laid by her hens. But from these everyday fragments, Lulah began to weave together the extraordinary life of the grandmother she never knew – a life lived in the most rarefied and glamorous of circles, from Elisabeth’s early years as an ambassador’s daughter in 1930s China, to her marriage to a British diplomat and postings in Madrid under Franco’s regime, post-war Beirut, Rio de Janeiro and Paris. But it was also a life of stark contrasts – between the opulent excess of embassy banquets and the deprivations of wartime rationing in England, between the unfailing charm she displayed in public and the dark depressions that blanketed her in private, between her great appetite for life and her sudden, early death.
Throughout Elisabeth’s adult life, the lists were a source of structure and comfort. And now, as Lulah learns that she is losing her own mother, she finds herself turning to her grandmother’s life, and to her much-travelled book of lists, in search of meaning and solace.
Elisabeth’s Lists is both a vivid memoir and a moving study of the familial threads that binds us, even beyond death.
Biography
Lulah is an author, copywriter and editor.
Her first book, Elisabeth’s Lists, tells the story of her grandmother Elisabeth’s life through a book of handwritten lists she left behind. Lulah weaves these fragments, together with snippets from letters and diaries and family legends, to recreate the extraordinary life of this woman she never knew.
Lulah’s writing has appeared in The Guardian, YOU magazine, Easy Living, Green Parent, The Junket and Easyjet in-flight magazine, amongst others. She lives with her husband, four children and various animals in Lewes, East Sussex.
With upcoming speaking engagements on BBC Radio London and Glasgow’s Aye Write Festival, Lulah has also recently appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live, BBC Radio Scotland and at the Birth of the Book event at Essex Book Festival.
MY THOUGHTS:
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
A beautifully written memoir of a time before and after WWII about a grandmother that a granddaughter hadn’t known. With tender care and compelling compassion, Lulah’s grandmother’s life and character are developed by the author allowing the reader to glimpse into a lifetime lived as no other. Readers follow along this family story written with charm and imagination as they are taken on a magical recreation about a way of life pulled from a part of history that is found/based on lists left behind.
If you like moving stories about families, history (especially depicted in war time), and the search for answers, then this story is for you. It’s beautifully written, the plot is smooth and precise and the author’s voice engaging and delightful. The woman of the story is remarkable and sure to leave a lasting impression. Her character development is both effectual and complete, and the setting is well-researched and laid out perfectly providing the needed backdrop for the Protagonist to grow and develop in.
The premise is quiet impressive and must have been challenging to write. I give the author a lot of praise for her successful book and I truly enjoyed it. I will keep this book for my own mother to read.
I absolutely love the historical fiction aspect of this book and the many calming, elegant and crafty intonations used by the author to create a smooth transitioning and creative voice.
On the face of it, Elisabeth’s lists seemed rather ordinary – shopping lists, items to be packed for a foreign trip, a tally of the eggs laid by her hens. But from these everyday fragments, Lulah began to weave together the extraordinary life of the grandmother she never knew – a life lived in the most rarefied and glamorous of circles, from Elisabeth’s early years as an ambassador’s daughter in 1930s China, to her marriage to a British diplomat and postings in Madrid under Franco’s regime, post-war Beirut, Rio de Janeiro and Paris. But it was also a life of stark contrasts – between the opulent excess of embassy banquets and the deprivations of wartime rationing in England, between the unfailing charm she displayed in public and the dark depressions that blanketed her in private, between her great appetite for life and her sudden, early death.
Throughout Elisabeth’s adult life, the lists were a source of structure and comfort. And now, as Lulah learns that she is losing her own mother, she finds herself turning to her grandmother’s life, and to her much-travelled book of lists, in search of meaning and solace.
Elisabeth’s Lists is both a vivid memoir and a moving study of the familial threads that binds us, even beyond death.
Biography
Lulah is an author, copywriter and editor.
Her first book, Elisabeth’s Lists, tells the story of her grandmother Elisabeth’s life through a book of handwritten lists she left behind. Lulah weaves these fragments, together with snippets from letters and diaries and family legends, to recreate the extraordinary life of this woman she never knew.
Lulah’s writing has appeared in The Guardian, YOU magazine, Easy Living, Green Parent, The Junket and Easyjet in-flight magazine, amongst others. She lives with her husband, four children and various animals in Lewes, East Sussex.
With upcoming speaking engagements on BBC Radio London and Glasgow’s Aye Write Festival, Lulah has also recently appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live, BBC Radio Scotland and at the Birth of the Book event at Essex Book Festival.
MY THOUGHTS:
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
A beautifully written memoir of a time before and after WWII about a grandmother that a granddaughter hadn’t known. With tender care and compelling compassion, Lulah’s grandmother’s life and character are developed by the author allowing the reader to glimpse into a lifetime lived as no other. Readers follow along this family story written with charm and imagination as they are taken on a magical recreation about a way of life pulled from a part of history that is found/based on lists left behind.
If you like moving stories about families, history (especially depicted in war time), and the search for answers, then this story is for you. It’s beautifully written, the plot is smooth and precise and the author’s voice engaging and delightful. The woman of the story is remarkable and sure to leave a lasting impression. Her character development is both effectual and complete, and the setting is well-researched and laid out perfectly providing the needed backdrop for the Protagonist to grow and develop in.
The premise is quiet impressive and must have been challenging to write. I give the author a lot of praise for her successful book and I truly enjoyed it. I will keep this book for my own mother to read.
I absolutely love the historical fiction aspect of this book and the many calming, elegant and crafty intonations used by the author to create a smooth transitioning and creative voice.
March 17, 2021
Pas entièrement convaincue. Le concept est intéressant : une femme récupère le carnet de liste de sa grand mère et grâce à un mélange de recherches historiques, de souvenirs de sa mère et d'écrits familiaux elle tente de raconter la vie de sa grand-maman. Le récit est poignant dans la mesure où l'autrice est en train de perdre sa mère au même moment : plus elle découvre sa grand mère, plus elle réalise le vide que sa propre mère va laisser.
La grand mère en question, Elisabeth, était une fille d'ambassadeur et est devenue elle même épouse d'ambassadeur : on est pas sur de la vie "lambda", et sur des gens qui sont restés très privilégiés à travers des époques synonymes de guerres et famines. Cette vie exceptionnelle fait que je me suis sentie un peu flouée : l'expérience ne me parait pas aussi universelle que la 4eme de couverture semble le suggérer.
A travers l'expérience d'Elisabeth, le récit aborde des thématiques comme la dépression post-partum, la santé mentale, la place des femmes, l'homosexualité. Cependant l'autrice reste dans la constatation, avec des éléments de contexte historique. Souvent des citations pour étayer son propos et ajouter un peu de poésie...ou de drama.
L'autrice n'a pas vraiment réussi à se laisser à romancer trop la vie de sa grand mère, et l'ajout du contexte et citations dans un mode d'écriture complètement différents m'ont donné l'impression qu'elle comblait le vide. J'ai eu du mal à me sentir impliquée ou transportée par ce récit, d'où les 3 étoiles.
La grand mère en question, Elisabeth, était une fille d'ambassadeur et est devenue elle même épouse d'ambassadeur : on est pas sur de la vie "lambda", et sur des gens qui sont restés très privilégiés à travers des époques synonymes de guerres et famines. Cette vie exceptionnelle fait que je me suis sentie un peu flouée : l'expérience ne me parait pas aussi universelle que la 4eme de couverture semble le suggérer.
A travers l'expérience d'Elisabeth, le récit aborde des thématiques comme la dépression post-partum, la santé mentale, la place des femmes, l'homosexualité. Cependant l'autrice reste dans la constatation, avec des éléments de contexte historique. Souvent des citations pour étayer son propos et ajouter un peu de poésie...ou de drama.
L'autrice n'a pas vraiment réussi à se laisser à romancer trop la vie de sa grand mère, et l'ajout du contexte et citations dans un mode d'écriture complètement différents m'ont donné l'impression qu'elle comblait le vide. J'ai eu du mal à me sentir impliquée ou transportée par ce récit, d'où les 3 étoiles.
January 8, 2021
I was intrigued by this book when I first picked it up. How could a book of lists be interesting? Yet I was fascinated by the idea of what it captures about a by gone era....a grandmother no longer here but her thoughts living on through what she wrote down.
As I read this book it grew on me more and more. It’s more than a family auto biography....it’s a tale of an extraordinary life...lived at an extraordinary time. Not many people from Elisabeth’s time period would have travelled to China..Spain (during WW2!), Rio, Persia and Beirut! It’s like a glimpse into another world for most of us....yet the lists and the depression show this was just another person...anchored through the list of china (6 tea sets!), wedding presents and what to pack when moving. Our lives may not involve exotic travel at all (due to lockdown haven’t even travelled out of my own county for a year)....yet the very act of collating lists and fighting depression gives me a connection to Elisabeth from another age.
An extraordinary and unusual book...but I am glad I read it.
As I read this book it grew on me more and more. It’s more than a family auto biography....it’s a tale of an extraordinary life...lived at an extraordinary time. Not many people from Elisabeth’s time period would have travelled to China..Spain (during WW2!), Rio, Persia and Beirut! It’s like a glimpse into another world for most of us....yet the lists and the depression show this was just another person...anchored through the list of china (6 tea sets!), wedding presents and what to pack when moving. Our lives may not involve exotic travel at all (due to lockdown haven’t even travelled out of my own county for a year)....yet the very act of collating lists and fighting depression gives me a connection to Elisabeth from another age.
An extraordinary and unusual book...but I am glad I read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2024
This was such a beautiful memoir (with sprinkles of travel writing too).
Perhaps I enjoyed this because of my connection to my now deceased grandmother or because I'm doing a geneaology training as well to uncover my ancestors and my connection to them but I found this such a fascinating and heartfelt read. I wanted to know Elizabeth too and weirdly hoped she knew my grandmother (which is a silly day dream since my grandmother was from Ireland), but I imagined their lives somehow colliding as I thought about my own ancestral line.
I felt this was well written and beautifully balanced the past, present and future. Enjoyed the photographs throughout and the images of Elizabeth's lists made it feel personal, as though I'm sifting through her notebook too.
it has inspired me to consider writing my own memoir about my grandmother or an auntie who the family doesn't like talking about.
Perhaps I enjoyed this because of my connection to my now deceased grandmother or because I'm doing a geneaology training as well to uncover my ancestors and my connection to them but I found this such a fascinating and heartfelt read. I wanted to know Elizabeth too and weirdly hoped she knew my grandmother (which is a silly day dream since my grandmother was from Ireland), but I imagined their lives somehow colliding as I thought about my own ancestral line.
I felt this was well written and beautifully balanced the past, present and future. Enjoyed the photographs throughout and the images of Elizabeth's lists made it feel personal, as though I'm sifting through her notebook too.
it has inspired me to consider writing my own memoir about my grandmother or an auntie who the family doesn't like talking about.
July 14, 2018
An interesting read about one woman's family history. Lulah Ellender starts to research her family history through her grandmother's book of lists just as her mother faces a health crisis. Ellender's grandmother died when her mother was just a teenager and as she starts to get to know Elisabeth better, she learns hidden secrets about the rest of her family. This has insights into life in the diplomatic set in the mid 20th century as well as reflections on the nature of family.
September 4, 2023
Histoire familiale, principalement axée sur la grand-mère Elizabeth. D’abord fille, puis épouse d’un diplomate britannique, elle consigne ses périples à travers le monde et son quotidien dans des listes. Grâce à celles-ci, sa petite-fille parvient à mieux connaître sa grand-mère décédée une dizaine d’années après la Seconde guerre. Un récit foisonnant de détails qui nous permet de comprendre le parcours des femmes de cette époque.
January 8, 2019
Ellender fleshes out the story of her maternal grandmother, Elisabeth, by researching the lists in a notebook she left behind after her death. I was interested to read this because of the family history element, but was ultimately more moved by the very poignant story of the loss of Ellender's mother to cancer. An unexpected delight of a read.
July 19, 2021
Une lecture fluide et intéressante, j’ai notamment aimé la découverte du quotidien en cette période trouble de l’histoire, mais j’ai trouvé que l’auteur gardait trop de distance, il m’a manqué de l’émotion pour être touchée par cette histoire.
C’était une bonne lecture, agréable, mais pas un coup de cœur
C’était une bonne lecture, agréable, mais pas un coup de cœur
September 8, 2023
Loved this
• family history researched through lists
• interesting to show the social history
• how the lists relate to the author both from family history and current family circumstances points of view
• thought provoking
• family history researched through lists
• interesting to show the social history
• how the lists relate to the author both from family history and current family circumstances points of view
• thought provoking
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 15, 2020
Part memoir; part meditation; all amazing.
February 25, 2022
Ma note est dure car ce livre avait tout pour me plaire et était intéressant mais c'est poussif, répétitif et j'ai hésité à poursuive ma lecture jusqu'au bout. Je me suis vraiment ennuyée, dommage!
June 7, 2018
A family story focussing on the life of the author’s grandmother, Elisabeth, begun after the author was given a notebook of lists written by Elisabeth and which Helen (Elisabeth’s daughter and the author’s mother) had in her possession. Elisabeth died in 1957, in her early forties when her daughter was only 8years old; so Helen had few memories of her mother and the author none at all.
The lists themselves are, on the whole, practical, lists for moving house, and include lists from the time of the Second World War, but do not speak directly of family or historical events. Instead they offer glimpses into day to day life of a diplomatic service family and they piqued the author’s interest into researching more about family members she had not known.
Chapters focus on different periods of Elisabeth’s life from China, where her father was ambassador in the 1930’s and where she met her future husband, to London in the war, then on to postings with her diplomat husband in Beirut, Madrid, Brazil and Paris. There is a mix of details about diplomatic life as a wife as well as her struggles with postnatal depression and, most poignantly, the death by suicide of her brother.
By the end of this very engaging read one felt that Ellender had reclaimed a family history and got to know a grandmother who died Long before her own birth; more importantly perhaps she has also done this for her mother Helen, who lost her mother so young, and who, while the book was being written was herself terminally ill. So it is in many ways a gift to Helen, but also a very compelling read which will resonate with many readers family stories of the twentieth century.
The lists themselves are, on the whole, practical, lists for moving house, and include lists from the time of the Second World War, but do not speak directly of family or historical events. Instead they offer glimpses into day to day life of a diplomatic service family and they piqued the author’s interest into researching more about family members she had not known.
Chapters focus on different periods of Elisabeth’s life from China, where her father was ambassador in the 1930’s and where she met her future husband, to London in the war, then on to postings with her diplomat husband in Beirut, Madrid, Brazil and Paris. There is a mix of details about diplomatic life as a wife as well as her struggles with postnatal depression and, most poignantly, the death by suicide of her brother.
By the end of this very engaging read one felt that Ellender had reclaimed a family history and got to know a grandmother who died Long before her own birth; more importantly perhaps she has also done this for her mother Helen, who lost her mother so young, and who, while the book was being written was herself terminally ill. So it is in many ways a gift to Helen, but also a very compelling read which will resonate with many readers family stories of the twentieth century.
March 27, 2022
Good
Enjoyed this book but don't like having to do these reviews
Lists took me back to another era enjoyed by my grandparents
Enjoyed this book but don't like having to do these reviews
Lists took me back to another era enjoyed by my grandparents
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