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  • Published: 15 July 2021
  • ISBN: 9781473583559
  • Imprint: Ebury Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 256

Re-educated

Why it’s never too late to change your life




A wise and witty memoir of starting again in later life, following acclaimed journalist Lucy Kellaway as she changes jobs, homes, relationships and hair colours in her fifties.

'A beautifully told story of courage, determination and, above all, magnificent defiance' Alan Johnson

'Bracing and inspirational' Nigella Lawson

'A wonderful writer... life-affirming' Jon Snow

'There are lots of reasons to read this book, which has the fineness of detail, sharpness of humour and grace of a novel by Penelope Lively. But it's this business of changing one's mind - the thing most of us least like to do - that I admired the most' Observer

'I am immersed in a new world that feels a long way from my old one. Though I've not been re-invented, what has happened is just as radical and a lot more interesting: I am being re-educated.'

Lucy Kellaway had a comfortable life. For years she had the same prestigious job, the same husband, and the same home. To the casual observer, she was both happy and successful. But one day, Lucy began to realise that the life she had built for herself no longer suited her. Was it too late to start again?

The answer was no - so she proceeded to tear down both marriage and career, and went back to school. Retraining as a teacher, Lucy discovers there is a world of new possibilities awaiting her - and learns that you can teach an old dog new tricks (providing they are willing to un-learn a few old ones along the way).

A witty and moving story of one woman's pursuit of a new life, Re-educated is a celebration of education's power to transform our lives at any age, and an essential companion for anyone facing the joy - and pain - of starting again.

  • Published: 15 July 2021
  • ISBN: 9781473583559
  • Imprint: Ebury Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 256

About the author

Lucy Kellaway

Lucy Kellaway is an English writer and satirist. For over twenty years, she has been an observer of the peculiarities of corporate culture in her column for the Financial Times, and she also presented Lucy Kellaway's History of Office Life for BBC Radio 4.

Also by Lucy Kellaway

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Praise for Re-educated

There are lots of reasons to read this book, which has the fineness of detail, sharpness of humour and grace of a novel by Penelope Lively. But it's this business of changing one's mind - the thing most of us least like to do - that I admired the most

Observer

A beautifully told story of courage, determination and, above all, magnificent defiance.

Alan Johnson

Bracing and inspirational

Nigella Lawson

Inspiring, insightful and sometimes sharply funny...In all her brave uncertainty, it leaves you sure of one thing: if the question is 'Why start again in middle age?', the answer is a resounding 'Why not?'

The Times

Dazzling... this wonderful, funny book is a celebration of the power of education

Daily Mail