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Anneke Wills' biography #2
Naked: Tragedies, Comedies and Discoveries. The Journey Continues...
In the second volume of her autobiography, Anneke’s familiar, intimate style tells her story as she leaves the limelight of television for rural family life. Fully embracing the liberal zeitgeist of the seventies, she lives ‘The Good Life’ in the idyllic countryside of Norfolk, travels to India and becomes a disciple of the notorious spiritual teacher Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. In the 1980s, she lives among unique artists on a small Canadian Island, works as a designer and gardener in California, endures unbearable tragedy and two more unorthodox marriages. She returns to the folds of Doctor Who in the nineties, which leads to worldwide travels, emotional reunions and new adventures. To this day, Anneke’s life continues to be unpredictable and bizarre. This book – hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure – brings us up to date, laying bare the story of a true renaissance woman.
288 pages, Paperback
Published April 25, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 5, 2021
The final volume of Anneke Wills’ autobiography details her travels after her acting career. She spent years trying to find peace and learn about herself through various communal groups, when she wasn’t puzzling her way through difficult relationships, and always seemed ready to move on to some new adventure or humble job. It’s a strange and once again very honest story, full of optimism in the face of loss, which has seemed considerable in Wills’ life. She mostly writes in the present tense which keeps it as immediate as it must have felt reliving it all. The two books make a satisfying whole.
July 27, 2010
If you were worried that Anneke Wills's life story might have gotten dull after she left acting, never fear! In this volume, Anneke travels the world, joins the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and gets out of her abusive marriage but never stops having interestingly rocky relationships with men. And she cleans houses, decorates houses, paints, directs community theatre, and eventually reconnects with Doctor Who fandom. It's one heck of a ride.
October 26, 2015
It is very hard to see the two volumes of Anneke Wills' autobiography as two books. (Indeed, part two starts with "Where was I? Oh yes..." and launches back into the story!)
I read both books in three days. As I may have mentioned in my review for the first book, the narrative style is a little odd at first, but actually it works brilliantly. You get a real sense of the passage of time, of relationships building and sometimes shattering. The book is so well written that at the end of it you feel like you have joined Anneke for some of the journey. There are moments of sheer joy, as well as moments of gut twisting sadness. When she loses her daughter, it is almost impossible not to feel as though someone you know has gone.
I enjoyed both books, but viewed as one whole they are amazing. Anneke has led an amazing life, and been surrounded by some wonderful people, but it is she herself that comes across the best here. Her humanity and understanding of the human spirit put most of us - myself included - to shame.
There are people that come off well, and there are people that come off less well (I can't see Michael Gough in anything now without seeing him punching his wife over a balcony) but I genuinely felt enriched by reading these volumes. What a wonderful set of books that tell the life story of a very special woman.
I read both books in three days. As I may have mentioned in my review for the first book, the narrative style is a little odd at first, but actually it works brilliantly. You get a real sense of the passage of time, of relationships building and sometimes shattering. The book is so well written that at the end of it you feel like you have joined Anneke for some of the journey. There are moments of sheer joy, as well as moments of gut twisting sadness. When she loses her daughter, it is almost impossible not to feel as though someone you know has gone.
I enjoyed both books, but viewed as one whole they are amazing. Anneke has led an amazing life, and been surrounded by some wonderful people, but it is she herself that comes across the best here. Her humanity and understanding of the human spirit put most of us - myself included - to shame.
There are people that come off well, and there are people that come off less well (I can't see Michael Gough in anything now without seeing him punching his wife over a balcony) but I genuinely felt enriched by reading these volumes. What a wonderful set of books that tell the life story of a very special woman.
July 12, 2015
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2491006.html
The second is a somewhat more personal book, picking up the story from the end of her acting career, when she decided to concentrate on her family with Michael Gough. She discovered transcendental meditation, the marriage ended, she travelled the world doing bits and pieces linked with the followers of Bhagwan Shree Rashneesh (and other things; in both books she reflects that cleaning bathrooms in California she became aware that her former romantic rival Joan Collins had achieved international megastardom), attracting and discarding husbands and lovers along the way, and eventually very much to her surprise discovered that she was a venerated figure among Who fandom on the basis of a year's work decades earlier. The book retains the breathlessly entertaining present tense of the first volume, but loses a bit by being less focused on a single professional activity, and slightly loses momentum towards the end. I still enjoyed it, if not quite as much as the first volume.
The second is a somewhat more personal book, picking up the story from the end of her acting career, when she decided to concentrate on her family with Michael Gough. She discovered transcendental meditation, the marriage ended, she travelled the world doing bits and pieces linked with the followers of Bhagwan Shree Rashneesh (and other things; in both books she reflects that cleaning bathrooms in California she became aware that her former romantic rival Joan Collins had achieved international megastardom), attracting and discarding husbands and lovers along the way, and eventually very much to her surprise discovered that she was a venerated figure among Who fandom on the basis of a year's work decades earlier. The book retains the breathlessly entertaining present tense of the first volume, but loses a bit by being less focused on a single professional activity, and slightly loses momentum towards the end. I still enjoyed it, if not quite as much as the first volume.
May 20, 2013
This book was amazing. It is one of the best autobiographies I've read. It had me crying and laughing at the amazing and complicated life led by this woman. There is so much here it's really hard to write a coherent review. Anneke is a very interesting person whose led a very unusual life. She chronicles it here with openness and honesty. From her life as an actress, mother and wife in the 60s the second volume of her autobiography finds her living in the country in Norfolk. She travels alone to India and learns about meditation and becomes a disciple of Bhagwan. She travels around the world living in communities and communes, making a living for herself through her art, interior design, gardening and house cleaning. She presents such a huge measure of contradictions, anger, peace, tragedy and happiness. It is one of the most touching and real books that I've read.
January 18, 2017
The second volume of "Doctor Who" actress Anneke Wills' autobiography takes her from the Seventies to today - a voyage of spiritual exploration. She's very open and honest - "naked", as she calls it - and you really get an understanding of the frequently chaotic life she has led. Entertaining and fascinating - very much like Anneke herself!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews