Exit Wounds

A Story of Life, Love and Occasional Wars

By: Peter Godwin

Narrated by: Peter Godwin

Peter’s mother is dying. Born in England and having spent most of her adult life as a doctor in Zimbabwe, she now lies on a hospital bed in the partitioned living room of his sister’s London apartment, her accent having overnight become posher than the Queen’s. Unsentimental, fiercely stubborn and at times hilarious, she finally drops her guard, losing all fear of conflict to become the family provocateur.

While confronting the revelations of what his family was – and wasn’t – and the stoicism that sometimes threatened to destroy them, Peter also mourns the ending of his long marriage. At this point of rupture and healing, Peter reflects on his family’s legacy of exile and their tenuous hold on home.

In Exit Wounds: A Story of Love, Loss and Occasional Wars, Peter Godwin considers, with both tenderness and candour, the life of émigrés, exiles and refugees, and grieves the many losses that make life both magnificent and unbearable. He brings us into the spaces which make us question, suffer and celebrate the relationships we have among family and friends, and the healing of our own wounds.

©2024 Peter Godwin (P)2024 Canongate Books Ltd

Love his voice as the author make it so special

Loved it all , as all his books speak to me , beautifully read and my part of the world

An ordinary orphan, a migratory stork at home far from home

Peter Godwin brings you into the heart of his family, shares his humour and his vulnerability, and reads it all in an authentic voice, made so much better by his familiar Zim accent. Now I have to reread the rest of his oevre by listening....

Touching and relatable

This book touches on belonging, being a parent, a life partner, a child, on finding your place in the world. A chronicle of the later-life crisis and all its roots

Being an emigré

I loved it so much that, as soon as I had finished, I started to listen to it once again. Your accent and story felt so familiar. A wonderful walk down memory lane. Thank you!