‘I am, I am, I am, Seventeen Brushes with Death’ is a far cry from the usual memoir. Maggie O’Farrell, author of ‘The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox’ and ‘The Hand That First Held Mine’, which won the 2010 Costa award, has written of her own seventeen brushes with death. The book is not written in chronological order and each chapter is headed by a part of the body – lungs, intestines, cranium etc – which relate to the incident being described.

Some chapters are finger tingling and others just touch on near escapes. One wonders if she should really stay clear of the sea! She has an encounter with a knife thrower, her plane suddenly loses height, she has a machete held against her throat. The opening chapter involves meeting a man on a walk who tries to strangle her with his binocular strap. She escapes, reports it to the police who are disinterested but the man finds another victim with disastrous consequences. Weaving through her life on this crisscross journey, from daughter, student, mother, and wife, the writing is extraordinary and very powerful.

The book came about as O’Farrell’s daughter has a severe immune disorder which seriously impinges on family life. However, in writing this book she is showing her daughter that it is possible to face death, step back from it and carry on living a purposeful life.

It happens to all of us in one form or another, but here O’Farrell encourages us all to learn from these experiences. Thus, it is not a book about death – more a life enhancing book.