BETWEEN THE LINES: Patti Smith, Bread of Angels (audiobook)

Patti Smith, Kelvingrove Bandstand, Glasgow, 2019 (Image: Damien Wilkinson)

Patti Smith’s critically acclaimed “Just Kids”, published over 15 years ago, documented her life (to that point) principally through the lens of her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe, who passed away in 1989.

Her latest memoir, “Bread of Angels” widens the landscape considerably, charting Smith’s early life right through to the present of 2025.

Perhaps most importantly, there is much focus on Smith’s life with Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith who she was married to until his death in 1994.

With a necessary re-tread of some of the topics covered by “Just Kids” the memoir drills down into much intimate detail of her childhood, her courtship and subsequent married life and motherhood whilst covering many of the tragic events she’s had to face along the way.

As in her previous books, Smith’s writing remains elegant, authentic and poetically compelling and this is perhaps even more so, when delivered by her in audiobook format.

Smith’s own survival and return to the stage after a self imposed wilderness, triumphs her undoubted spiritual resilience particularly in the aftermath of a recent family lineage discovery that shook her family.

Now 78 years old, Smith captures the enduring vitality that she still injects into her music and live performances, creating a deep and powerful account of her life and times.

Patti Smith’s Bread of Angels book (Image: Bloomsbury Publishing)