Lifestory

by Alison Habens

Beck is an anxious single mother of one small son, plagued by a sore throat and an irrational dislike of white lilac. Dr. Jonathan Comfort treats her first for the throat and then tends to her heart. Beck had forgotten what it was like to fall in love but now she's looking forward to the festive season with her new family. That is until a near-fatal mishap with the Christmas tree lights lands Beck in hospital - and when she wakes up from her coma she can remember more than just tinsel and pine needles. She remembers with incredible clarity and in great detail the sights and sounds of nineteenth century India and a horrific massacre on the Ganges. Worse, she can remember her life as a Hindu warrior who slaughtered English women and children. How did Beck get these memories? Is she mad or have she and Jonathan met before? And if they have, how can she convince him not only to believe her but also to forgive her?

Rich, colorful and inventive, Lifestory is a warm and witty novel from a writer of exceptional talent.

Genres: Fiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 13, 2003

About the author

Alison Habens is best known for Dreamhouse, a 1990s cult novel based on Alice in Wonderland. The book has its own ‘coming of age’ alongside Lewis Carroll’s centenary this year; and there’ll be a giveaway of pristine first editions on Goodreads.
Alison has written pretty much every day since it was published, with two further novels, Lifestory and Family Outing available, and lots of short stories, articles, poems and plays to see on alisonhabens.com.
Her new novel is a quirky retelling of the St Veronica myth, The True Picture. See thetruepicture.co.uk.
Alison is a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Portsmouth, and has a PhD on the subject of ‘divine inspiration’ in literature. She lives in an old church on the Isle of Wight and commutes to work by hovercraft.