Reckoning

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