The Centre of the Bed

by Joan Bakewell

The story of Joan Bakewell's life and times spans the Blitz in Manchester, Cambridge during the glittering era of Michael Frayn, Peter Hall, Jonathan Miller et al, London at its most exciting in the swinging sixties and the world of the media and the arts from the 60s to the present. As she reflects on the choices she has made and the influences that shaped her, she confronts painful childhood memories of her mother's behaviour and describes both her affair with Harold Pinter and her two marriages with remarkable honesty. Throughout she uses her own experience to explore the extraordinary change in women's roles during her lifetime. This is no ordinary celebrity autobiography but a memoir that is beautifully written, frank and absorbing, which draws a thought-provoking portrait of Britain in the last 70 years.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

313 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Joan Dawson Bakewell, Baroness Bakewell, DBE, HonFBA, FRSA, is an English journalist, television presenter and Labour Party peer. Baroness Bakewell is president of Birkbeck, University of London; she is also an author and playwright, and has been awarded Humanist of the year for services to humanism.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Betrayal, Betrayal, Betrayal If only I knew this play, perhaps I would have enjoyed this book more. She did go on about how it was based on her affair with Harold Pinter, didn’t she?
I found the name dropping, intentional or otherwise, too much, especially as I didn’t know that many of them. All the information about the programmes she made left me cold too, as I can’t remember them.
A book for her real fans only, I think. Thank God it only cost me 50p.

[Sull · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a very good book. Too serious & far too much self-important attitude. Maybe working for the BBC does that to you. JB was the "thinking man's crumpet" and had a long affair with Harold Pinter, so I was interested but...very boring read. I skipped a lot, like the frequent feminist philosophizing (I'm a feminist but hate being bored), and didn't learn one thing about Harold Pinter, in hopes of which was mostly why I wanted to read the book. Self-centered overall--I suppose that's what auto-biogs are, but this was pretty darn uninteresting.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not exactly a pacy read, bit dry for my liking but nonetheless a valuable record of how dramatically things changed for women - even relatively privileged women (well educated, working in media) like Joan Bakewell - over the course of the late 20th century, how far we still have to go, and how very recent and precarious some of those changes feel (every time I’m reminded that abortion only became legal in 1967 I’m horrified all over again, and then realising it took a further 50+ years for women in Ireland to receive the same rights makes me want to weep with frustration).

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this but got a little middling towards the end.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most interesting.

[Jan Madden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good read. A fascinating lady with a fascinating story

[Thx1138 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It covers the breadth of joan`s career in a way that is very digestable and very readable. There are anumber of surprises and some sad episodes. Written with joan`s beautiful, concise style. There is little about pinter but then there is enough , Joan has produced a an interesting and honest account of her life and the times she haas seen. Great book!