This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing

A Memoir

By: Jacqueline Winspear

Narrated by: Jacqueline Winspear

“Jacqueline Winspear has created a memoir of her English childhood that is every bit as engaging as her Maisie Dobbs novels, just as rich in character and detail, history and humanity. Her writing is lovely, elegant and welcoming.” (Anne Lamott)

The New York Times best-selling author of the Maisie Dobbs series offers a deeply personal memoir of her family’s resilience in the face of war and privation.

After 16 novels, Jacqueline Winspear has taken the bold step of turning to memoir, revealing the hardships and joys of her family history. Both shockingly frank and deftly restrained, her story tackles the difficult, poignant, and fascinating family accounts of her paternal grandfather’s shell shock; her mother’s evacuation from London during the Blitz; her soft-spoken animal-loving father’s torturous assignment to an explosives team during WWII; her parents’ years living with Romany gypsies; and Winspear’s own childhood picking hops and fruit on farms in rural Kent, capturing her ties to the land and her dream of being a writer at its very inception.

An eye-opening and heartfelt portrayal of a postwar England we rarely see, This Time Next Year We’ll Be Laughing chronicles a childhood in the English countryside, of working class indomitability and family secrets, of artistic inspiration and the price of memory.

©2020 Jacqueline Winspear (P)2020 Recorded Books, Inc.

A delightful series of tales of real people

I so enjoyed listening to this in the author's own voice. Ms. Winspear is not a profesional voice-over artist, so if you're looking for the energy and drama being provided that way, you won't find it too often here. Instead, in her own words, the experiences she shares come to life as only the person who lived them, or as one so close to those who did, could portray. And for those of you who, like me, love and admire Maisie Dobbs, you may even catch a glimpse or two of her here. Brava! And thank you!

Loved it

If you enjoy Jacqueline Winspear’s writing you will be enchanted with this book too. It was delightful to hear her voice.

This Time Next Year We'll Be Laughing

This is personal on many levels. My mother was keeper of stories, my father the discoverer of wonder, sharer of joy. I was the receptacle they poured. I feel very lucky to have been their daughter.
I find Mendocino a place of magic for me. The first time I saw it my cells said "home" knowing my ancestors lived this and somehow my cellular cement remembered.
Look it there, what a gasping incredible view, I am lucky, so lucky indeed.

Excellent memoir

Jacqueline Winspear narrates her own story beautifully. She is the author of the Maisie Dobbs mysteries, but here, she tells her own story and that of her family, from its post War roots to the present. It’s full of authentic atmosphere and the ups and downs brought on by a family affected by two World Wars and the struggles to keep a family together.

The true story

Having read all the books about Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator, it is a thrill to find out what makes the author of these wonderful books tick. How did she gain so much insight into what it was like to work as a nurse in a field hospital in northern France during WWI? What society was like after that awful war and how people coped with their losses? How did she know how to work a public telephone in the 30’s and how to negotiate the fine line in maintaining her independence while working with and for the police? Many of the details in her memoir fill in the blanks of the settings in her stories, from hop-picking in Kent as a summer holiday to surviving the blitz. She has a fabulous memory, a huge help. Thanks to Jacqueline Winspear for this unique look into her past.

A Life Well-Lived, Well-Loved & Well-Documented!

Jacqueline Winspear's memoir about her life is chock-full of juicy stories and memories which have laid the meticulous foundation for her beloved 'Maisie Dobbs' book series. A savant for remembering details, time, places, people, and incidents since she was three years old, her path to becoming a writer became obvious when she was nine. She was given the job of family story keeper by her mother and her memory is as sharp as ever.

Although she was a shy child and struggled to find her voice, her bravery to narrate her own story came full circle. When I first started to listen, her voice was not as strong as many of the actors hired to read a book on tape – but soon that concern faded away. Her enthusiasm for setting just the right tone, describing the cast of characters who were her family, (as well as the people who intersected their lives over many decades), made for hearty tales. She is a country girl and heart and her family experienced the highs and lows of going from job to job and not having money to have a proper place to live. Over time, their life turn out unexpectedly well. Her love of descriptive narrative texturizes each story with a palette of sharp and blurring colors. She is definitely an old soul and you will be glad you took the time to learn what makes her tick.

A rare delight! All fives!!

My wife and I are huge Winspear fans, having read (ok-listened to) all of her Masie Dobbs novels. I think we most enjoyed hearing this very entertaining - and at points, poignant - memoir read aloud by the author herself! A rare delight!! Overall - a terrific read! Performance: memorable inflections as only the author could share. Story: fascinating! Thank you!

Truly wonderful read

Growing up the way she did it is wonderful we are able to read her books and find pieces of her life in the reading. Good bad and I ugly bundled into a life story that produces a writer like Jacqueline. What a blessing.

Beautiful as always

She has a way of writing that transports you, just as in her novels. It was nice to learn where she drew her inspiration for her characters.

Beyond wonderful

Wonderful to listen to so many sources for the stories in her books. What a sincere, loving author. I am privileged to have listened to her books and now this memoir. Beyond inspiring to me.