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Reckoning
Published 1 August 2016
ISBN 9781925355413
Format Trade Paperback
Extent 384pp
AU Price $36.99
NZ Price $45.00

Reckoning

A Memoir

Formats & editions
Paperback
1 Sept 2026
Tr. Paperback
1 Aug 2016
Hardback
23 Sept 2015
EBook
23 Sept 2015
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Heartbreaking, joyous and revelatory, Reckoning is the book where Magda Szubanski, one of Australia’s most beloved icons, tells her story.

She describes her journey from an ordinary suburban childhood, haunted by the demons of her father’s espionage activities in wartime Poland and the ordeal of growing up gay in the 1970s, to the complex dramas of adulthood and unexpected fame.

Compelled to learn and understand the truth, Magda uncovers the traumatic secrets that have held her captive. She grapples with big questions about life and death, love and loss, and how humour helps us survive.

Intimate, poignant, captivating, Reckoning is the work of a fearless writer and natural storyteller.

'A memoir that will dazzle every kind of reader…Reckoning is a riveting, overwhelmingly poignant autobiography by a woman of genius. It is a book about how someone might live with the idea of killing the thing they love. It is a story of love and death and redemption and a daughter's love for her father. It is an extraordinary hymn to the tragic heroism at the heart of ordinary life and the soaring moral scrutiny of womankind. Every library should have it, every school should teach it.' Peter Craven, The Australian
'This is a remarkable memoir, that weaves the tragedy of twentieth century history into a personal narrative of coming to terms with family and self, and manages to honour both stories. The writing is assured and controlled, the storytelling expert and thoughtful, the language eloquent and moving. The writing, the story, the voice— all of it is beautiful.' Christos Tsiolkas

'A brave and tender book about everything that matters most in life.' Cate Blanchett

Award Winner, Liberty Victoria: The Voltaire Award, Magda Szubanski, 2018
Award Winner, Nielsen BookData Booksellers Choice Award, 2016
Award Winner, Book of the Year, Australian Book Industry Awards, 2016
Award Winner Award Winner nner, Biography of the Year, Australian Book Industry Awards, 2016
Award Winner, Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, 2016
Award Winner, Indie Award for Non-Fiction, 2016
Award Winner, Victorian Community History Award Judges’ Special Prize, 2016
Award Shortlisted, Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year, Australian Book Industry Awards, 2016
Award Shortlisted, Dobbie Literary Award, 2016
Award Shortlisted, National Biography Award, 2016
Published 1 August 2016
ISBN 9781925355413
Format Trade Paperback
Extent 384pp
AU Price $36.99
NZ Price $45.00

About the author

Magda Szubanski

Magda Szubanski is one of Australia’s best known and most loved performers. She began her career in university revues, then appeared in a number of sketch-comedy shows before he iconic character of Sharon Strzelecki rose to national fame in ABC TV’s Kath and Kim. She has also acted in films (Babe, Babe: Pig in the City, Happy Feet, The Golden Compass) and in stage shows. Her bestselling memoir Reckoning won the 2016 Indie Award for Non-Fiction, the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction, the 2016 Nielsen Bookdata Booksellers Choice Award, the 2016 Australian Book Industry Award for Biography and the Australian Book Industry Award for Book of the Year 2016. She became the public face of the marriage-equality debate in 2017.
portrait photo of Magda Szubanski

Also by Magda Szubanski

I Can't Tell You But I Will
See all

Praise for Reckoning

Reckoning is a riveting, overwhelmingly poignant autobiography by a woman of genius…It is an extraordinary hymn to the tragic heroism at the heart of ordinary life and the soaring moral scrutiny of womankind. Every library should have it, every school should teach it.

Peter Craven, Australian

A brave and tender book about everything that matters most in life

Cate Blanchett

This is a remarkable memoir, that weaves the tragedy of twentieth century history into a personal narrative of coming to terms with family and self, and manages to honour both stories. The writing is assured and controlled, the storytelling expert and thoughtful, the language eloquent and moving. The writing, the story, the voice—all of it is beautiful

Christos Tsiolkas

Unlike most autobiographies by famous people, Reckoning has substance beyond the writer’s fame…Szubanski’s fine memoir, written with great style, adds another layer to our history — another startling migrant story.

Jim Morgan, Crikey

We all knew she was funny, but who knew she could write like this?

Benjamin Law, Age/Sydney Morning Herald

Sensitive and searching, colourful and vividly composed…stylish and accomplished

Cameron Woodhead, Sydney Morning Herald

It is impossible not to be moved…Let’s hope Szubanski writes more. She shines just as brightly as a serious writer as she does as a comedian

Meredith Jaffe, Guardian, Best Australian Books of 2015

[Reckoning] untangles intergenerational trauma with intelligence and insight…[Szubanski] declares herself as a sensitive intellectual who is cursed, or blessed, depending on your point of view, with the fervent desire to understand

Shelley McInnis, Newtown Review of Books

Reckoning is a beautiful and moving story of a serious, thoughtful and complex person

Paul Barclay, Radio National Books and Arts, Best Books of 2015

[Szubanski] captures wonderfully well the strange dissonance of history

Sophie Cunningham, Australia, Best Books of 2015

I also adored Magda Szubanski’s memoir, Reckoning. She has great stories to draw on but it is her very fine writing that makes it such a joy to read

Christos Tsiolkas, Age/Sydney Morning Herald