If you have not encountered the incomparable Miriam Margolyes in the past, I don’t know how to describe her to you other than to say that she is a truly singular personality. She is a British dramatic legend who has spent most of her adult life on stage, in front of the camera or behind a microphone. She is best known for her role as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films, but is also an accomplished audiobook narrator and has more recently taken on documentary film in which she visits various parts of the world (and, at one point, washes her knickers on camera – though she wasn’t aware it was being filmed at the time).
In addition to her dramatic work, she is also well known as a unique figure in British culture. She is now in her 80s, but has an ability to come across with the high energy levels and wide-eyed wonder at the world that is more often associated with someone of a much younger age. She is also notorious for having absolutely no filter between what passes through her brain and comes out her mouth. To demonstrate this, you can find a whole collection of snippets of her on The Graham Norton Show here – be warned, it’s got a lot of risqué bits, so if you’re easily offended perhaps don’t watch it (or read this book)!
Now that you’ve experienced her brash and (to some) shocking nature, you may have a better idea of what it is like to read an entire book in which she recounts her life, from childhood through to yesterday, with the same level of openness and unblinking honesty. It’s not for the faint of heart, and it’s definitely not for anyone who is even the least bit prudish or prejudiced. She will challenge all of your boundaries, and she will do so in such a casual manner before moving on a second later to something entirely different, that you can be certain she has spent a lot of time stepping on various sets of toes. In fact, one of the most notorious stories she shares in this book is the time she met HRH The Queen and received a royal eye roll and request to please be quiet. Which she went ahead to ignore. Of course.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent listening to Miriam Margolyes. I can understand why most people find her challenging at some point or another, but this was exactly what I found so appealing about her. I appreciate complete honesty and the absence of any self-restraint or guile. I don’t know if this is because I’m neurodivergent and this is how I would be if I didn’t bother masking my instinctive communication style for public consumption, or if it’s just that I find her really amusing. (I also would not be in the least surprised to discover that she is also neurodiverse, though this has not been discussed that I can find, and I may be well off the mark – there’s just a similar wavelength on which she seems to exist.) Either way, I tore through this audiobook in record time, and loved every minute of it.
I definitely would not recommend this for everyone. Margolyes is a particular brand of person – the comparison to marmite comes readily to mind. But she has such an interesting set of personality traits and experiences. She’s Jewish, she’s a lesbian, she’s blatantly irreverent. But she’s also adept at code switching between various sectors of society (the UK having a very much class-based society, even these days), having been brought up by a mother who understood the importance in both being able to blend in with the upper classes and having connections with people who belonged to it. She went to a prestigious school and then, thanks to her mother’s shrewd instincts, got a top-tier academic recommendation that got her into Cambridge where she earned a degree in English Literature. She is, therefore, able to speak on many levels (and in many accents), is unabashed in her presentation of herself, but is also extremely intelligent and well educated. It’s an interesting combination of elements that have created someone who is impossible to fit into any one box. But why would you want to when it’s so much fun watching her dance around them?
I’ve discovered that she has another book, so I’m mostly writing this review now so that I can dive straight into it without the two melding irretrievably into one in my mind. If you liked what you saw in the video linked above, if you’ve heard of Margolyes before and are interested to know exactly how someone like her came into being, or if you’re a fan of that particular strata of British culture that includes the likes of Stephen Fry and Maggie Smith, you will likely also find Margolyes’ memoir a fascinating way to pass some time. Definitely go for the audiobook if you can, as she narrates it herself and is, in her own words when describing herself to The Queen, “the best reader of stories in the whole world.” She’s not wrong.
BAFTA-winning actor, voice of everything from Monkey to the Cadbury’s Caramel Rabbit, creator of a myriad of unforgettable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, Miriam Margolyes, OBE, is the nation’s favourite (and naughtiest) treasure. Find out how being conceived in an air-raid gave her curly hair; what pranks led to her being known as the naughtiest girl Oxford High School ever had; how she ended up posing nude for Augustus John as a teenager; why Bob Monkhouse was the best (male) kiss she’s ever had; and what happened next after Warren Beatty asked ‘Do you fuck?’
From declaring her love to Vanessa Redgrave to being told to be quiet by the Queen, this book is packed with hilarious stories. With a cast list stretching from Scorsese to Streisand, a cross-dressing Leonardo di Caprio to Isaiah Berlin, This Much Is True is as full of life and surprises, as its inimitable author. – Goodreads
Book Title: This Much Is True
Author: Miriam Margolyes
Series: No
Edition: Audiobook
Published By: John Murray
Released: September 16, 2021
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, Celebrity, Actor, LGBTQ+
Pages: 427
Date Read: February 11-13, 2024
Rating: 8/10
Average Goodreads Rating: 4.10/5 (19,167 ratings)
