Growing Pains (Autobiography) (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Canadian Artist's Memoir of Childhood, Modernism, Pacific Northwest Landscapes, and Creative StruggleBy Emily Carr
Length10h 7m
About this audiobook
Emily Carr's Growing Pains is an autobiographical account of artistic formation, tracing the difficult passage from a restless childhood in Victoria to disciplined study in San Francisco, London, and Paris, and finally toward a distinctly Canadian modernist vision. Written in vivid, episodic prose, the book has the texture of a painter's notebook: scenes are sharply observed, emotionally candid, and often edged with irony. Within the context of Canadian life writing, it stands as both Künstlerroman and spiritual memoir, recording the costs of becoming an artist in a provincial, colonial society. Carr (1871–1945) was among Canada's most original painters and prose stylists, closely associated with the Group of Seven's search for a national art while remaining fiercely independent. Her experiences as a woman artist, her encounters with Indigenous villages and monumental forests of the Pacific Northwest, her years of poverty, ill health, and neglect, and her late recognition all inform the book's urgency. Growing Pains reveals how artistic vocation was shaped by loneliness, resistance, and stubborn fidelity to vision. This autobiography is recommended to readers interested in modernism, women's artistic lives, Canadian cultural history, and the relation between landscape, identity, and creative struggle.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenreBiography and Memoir
Length10 hrs 7 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 4, 2023
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
26PART TWO
2Introduction
27HOME AGAIN
3Synopsis
28LOVE AND POETRY
4Historical Context
29THE VOYAGE AND AUNT AMELIA
5FOREWORD
30AUNT AMELIA’S PG HOUSE
Show all chaptersShow less
6PART ONE
31ST. PAUL’S
7BAPTISM
32LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION
8MOTHER
33WESTMINSTER ABBEY—ARCHITECTURAL MUSEUM
9DRAWING AND INSUBORDINATION
34LIFE CLASS
10GRADUATION
35MRS. RADCLIFFE
11REASONS
36MRS. SIMPSON’S
12THE OUTDOOR SKETCH CLASS
37LEAVING MISS GREEN’S—VINCENT SQUARE
13NELLIE AND THE LILY FIELD
38PAIN AND MRS. RADCLIFFE—THE VICARAGE
14DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NUDE AND NAKED
39KICKING THE REGENT STREET SHOE-MAN
15BEANY
40ARE YOU SAVED?
16EVIL
41QUEEN VICTORIA
17THE ROARATS
42ENGLISH SPRING
18GLADNESS
43MY SISTER’S VISIT
19COLOUR-SENSE
44MARTYN
20SISTERS COMING—SISTERS GOING
45THE RADCLIFFES’ ART AND DISTRICT VISITING
21LAST CHANCE
46LONDON TASTED
22MRS. TUCKET
47THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE
23TELEGRAPH HILL
48ST. IVES
24THE MANSION
49BUSHEY
25BACK TO CANADA
50BIRDS
More from Emily Carr
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m$29 · $0.00
A Bridge Not Too FarDeepak Ohri4h 55m$15
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m5.0 (1)$24 · $0.00
A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings With George Müller (The Complete Four-Volume Edition)George Müller43h 37m$2 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m5.0 (2)$29 · $0.00
Scandal Between the Sheets & Stranded with the Tempting StrangerBrenda Jackson9h 22m$24 · $0.00
The complete novelsJane Austen73h 18m$3.50 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m5.0 (1)$20 · $0.00
The Boys and MeMark Miller8h 32m$23
The Complete Works of William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare89h 26m$3.50 · $0.00
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m$26 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m$29 · $0.00
You may also like
Everything the Light TouchesJanice Pariat, J Pariat, M Addis, C Nayak, C Rockley, M Soraya17h 16m$40 · $0.00
The Essential Writings of Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau82h 31m$2 · $0.00
Siddhartha (An Indian Tale) (Annotated)Hermann Hesse5h 54m$2 · $0.00
The Windeby PuzzleLois Lowry3h 20m$18 · $0.00
Recollections of My YouthErnest Renan9h 46m$1 · $0.00
SiddharthaHermann Hesse5h 21m$20
The Complete Novels of D. H. Lawrence (Annotated)D. H. Lawrence211h 16m$2 · $0.00
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManJames Joyce9h 1m$24 · $0.00
A Personal OdysseyThomas Sowell10h 56m$21
RetablosOctavio Solis5h 10m$17 · $0.00
Thanksgiving StoriesHarriet Beecher Stowe, Louisa May Alcott, Andrew Lang, George Eliot, Annie Hamilton Donnell, Eugene Field, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hezekiah Butterworth, Edward Everett Hale, Sarah Orne Jewett, Susan Coolidge, Maud Lindsay, Olive Thorne Miller, Winthrop Packard, Kate Upson Clark, Alfred Gatty, Albert F. Blaisdell, Eleanor H. Porter, C. A. Stephens, J. T. Trowbridge, Eleanor L. Skinner, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Rose Terry Cooke, Edna Payson Brett, Phila Butler Bowman, Katherine Grace Hulbert, Agnes Carr, Isabel Gordon Curtis, P. J. Stahl, Sheldon C. Stoddard, Francis K. Ball, R. K. Munkittrick, E. S. Brooks, Emily Hewitt Leland, Fannie Wilder Brown, Alice Wheildon, Pauline Shackleford Colyar, H. R. Schoolcraft, L. B. Pingree, Sophie Swet24h$2 · $0.00
Tibetan Peach PieTom Robbins12h 27m$29 · $0.00
Worse Than WeirdJody J. Little5h 45m$24 · $0.00
Burn the PlaceIliana Regan7h 22m$20 · $0.00
EmileJean-Jaques Rousseau26h 1m$2.30
The Forgetful fishKateryna Babkina18m$1 · $0.00
Plums for MonthsZaji Cox2h 47m5.0 (1)$15
Hine Toa: An extraordinary memoir by a trailblazing voice in women's, queer and Māori liberation movements, WINNER of the 2025 Ockham General Non-Fiction AwardNgāhuia te Awekōtuku13h 37m$33 · $0.00
SoutheyEdward Dowden3h 4m$1 · $0.00
The Autobiography of Charles DarwinCharles Darwin2h 24m$3.50 · $0.00