Joining the Dots cover art

Joining the Dots

A Woman In Her Time

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

Joining the Dots

By: Juliet Gardiner
Narrated by: Eve Karpf
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £13.78

Buy Now for £13.78

‘An accomplished and intensely evocative memoir … A journey of courage and determination … Joining the Dots … will become in time an integral part of our understanding of postwar Britain’ Daniel Kynaston, Books of the Year, Observer

How has Britain changed – politically, economically, socially and culturally – in the postwar era? Both lyrical and personal, social historian Juliet Gardiner’s memoir Joining the Dots is the accessible and empowering living history of a mid-twentieth-century woman who grew into a world so different from the one she was born into. The book is also a wider study of class, sexual choice, motherhood and marriage, feminism, family planning and professional ambition. An essential read for anyone interested in gender equality and modern history.

 Europe Great Britain Historical Marriage & Long-Term Partnerships Relationships Women Marriage
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

‘An accomplished and intensely evocative memoir that will become in time an integral part of our understanding of post-war Britain. It is also, at a personal level, a journey of courage and determination’ Books of the Year, David Kynaston, Observer
‘Refreshingly unconcerned with self-excavation … the beauty of the book is in its flow from the particular to the general… the vast consolation and pleasure of this generous book is its conviction that we are all more than one life allows’ TLS
‘Gardiner has, in this remarkable and moving book, joined the dots’ Daily Telegraph
‘Gardiner's riveting memoir should be compulsory reading for any woman born in the last seventy or so years … what she does so engagingly well here is to tell her own highly personal story, then set it in contemporary context … Gardiner has given us in Joining the Dots another volume of utterly compelling and insightful social history about the century we have recently emerged from’ Literary Review
‘Juliet Gardiner is well known for her superbly researched books on slices of British social history … in this short memoir … she turns the spotlight on her own story. It’s every bit as fascinating as her wider works’ Country Life
‘In this lyrical, perceptive book, Gardiner “joins the dots” in a memoir that describes life from the end of the Second World War to the 1980s’ Sunday Express
’Riveting…touchingly frank…this fascinating, well-written book, is excellent’ Oldie
All stars
Most relevant

Would you consider the audio edition of Joining the Dots to be better than the print version?

I loved the gentle way Eve Karpf narrated the book. It was like sitting in the same room with her and listening to the story unfolding. I haven't read the print version but if I read more Juliet Gardiner in book form I will probably hear the voice of Eve Karpf.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Joining the Dots?

The epilogue came as a complete surprise. It was very moving

Which scene did you most enjoy?

I loved hearing about the changes in womens' lives during Juliet's lifetime so far. I particularly enjoyed the pieces about living on the Span estate. I wasn't aware of these houses and found this fascinating. Her honest portrayal of her marriage and the challenges she faced were really interesting.


Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

reading the book made me want to meet Juliet Gardiner and thank her for writing such an interesting book

completely engrossing. I really enjoyed this book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Being of a certain age I could identify with the author and see such changes in the lives of women and more to come. An easy read and I enjoyed how she intertwined her own life with the history of the time.

Women through the ages

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.