About this item

"I absolutely loved Lillian on Life." - Kate Atkinson"I found it full of life and full of wisdom." - Erica JongSmart, poignant, funny, and totally original, Lillian on Life is as fresh and surprising as fiction gets.This is the story of Lillian, a single woman reflecting on her choices and imagining her future. Born in the Midwest in the 1930s; Lillian lives, loves, and works in Europe in the fifties and early sixties; she settles in New York and pursues the great love of her life in the sixties and seventies. Now it's the early nineties, and she's taking stock. Throughout her life, walking the unpaved road between traditional and modern choices for women, Lillian grapples with parental disappointment and societal expectations, wins and loses in love, and develops her own brand of wisdom.



About the Author

Alison Jean Lester

I was born in Los Angeles in 1966 to a British mother and an American father. They met on an airplane in 1963 when she was a Pan Am stewardess and he was coming back from participating in the first American expedition to Mount Everest. We moved every few years, so I don't remember L.A. By the time I was eight I had also lived in St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, and in London. I lived in coastal Massachusetts until college at Indiana University, where I earned a B.A. in Mandarin and French, having spent my junior year (1985-86) in Beijing. After studying for an M.A. in Chinese Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) , I worked for the U.S. Commerce Department for a year, wondering about joining the Foreign Service. I got married and moved to Japan in 1991 instead. It was in Japan that I started really concentrating on writing. While earning money at various part-time jobs (editor, voice-over talent) , I submitted freelance articles on business, culture and history to a range of magazines and newspapers; I scribbled poetry; and I wrote three novels. Lots of my freelance articles were published, and one poem. Please forget I told you about the novels. After eight years and two babies in Japan, I moved to Singapore. A lot has happened to me here: I got divorced, I developed a successful coaching and training business, I adopted a schnauzer, I managed on my own for a long time, I met the love of my life and I remarried. I've written lots of short stories while living here in Singapore. Lillian on Life is the first novel I wrote while here. More to come.



Read Next Recommendation

Report incorrect product information.