Real Estate by Deborah Levy. Advance Reader Copy (eARC) from the publisher via Netgalley included. No affiliate links used. Read my full disclosure policy here.
Real Estate is the third and final installment in Deborah Levy's 'Living Autobiography' series.
There is something comforting about reading Levy's meditation on real estate, owning a house, and the concept of home during lockdown. Real Estate was written before the pandemic but, after a year where we have largely been confined to within 5km of our homes, I suspect its themes will connect with more people than it might ordinarily have.
As she approaches her sixtieth birthday and her youngest daughter gets ready to leave their flat to attend university, Levy is preoccupied with what her legacy will be. What will she leave behind? Her children and the books she has written, yes. But there won't be a house.
A fellowship in Paris provides the perfect escape from her flat in London and the two sheds she is renting, so that she has a place of her own to write. She knows that her ideal house will remain a pipe dream, but she can still dream — right?
I don't want to say too much about the narrative. So much of the joy is in watching the story unfold. Levy weaves her thoughts on creativity, motherhood, aging, relationships, legacy, and home into a refreshing memoir that is a call to build the life you want.
It can be read as a standalone book but, if you haven't already, I recommend reading Things I Don't Want You Know and The Cost of Living first. If only because you'll get to spend more time in Deborah Levy's world which is time well spent.
Real Estate by Deborah Levy is published on May 13th by Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin Random House. It is available in hardback, ebook and audiobook format.