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Mother Country

On sale

8th December 2011

Price: £6.99

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Selected: ebook / ISBN-13: 9781444721249

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Even her closest friend agreed that Shark Grayson wasn’t fit to keep her baby. A heroin addict, living in a sordid London squat, she was already close to death when her American lover took charge of the situation by force, and carried off the baby Alexander to give him a loving home in the Mid-West and an affluent future. But now Alex is twenty-seven, orphaned again and afflicted by a sense of lost roots and a romantic vision of England. A business trip provides the chance to go and trace his unknown relatives. He finds friendship; encounters some startlingly predatory girls; and confronts mystery in the eccentric alternative health centre run by the austere Julia. He discovers that while some British people are very hard indeed to get along with, some turn out to be, after all, more closely akin to him than he could ever have imagined.

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Reviews

<i> Sunday Telegraph</i>
For three-quarters of its course, the novel is pure late Shakespeare . . . A comedy of manners . . . drawn with skill and humour.
<i>Yorkshire Evening Post</i>
Amusing, wry and often thought-provoking . . . its greatest rewards are to be found in the subtle changes which occur in Alex and the people he encounters as he gets ever closer to discovering the truth.
<i>Spain</i> (Edinburgh)
Another satisfying novel
<i>The Times</i>
Purves's great skill is her ability to marry her cultural and historical insights with her characters' personal development - all wrapped up in a well-paced detective story. . . . Engrossing.
<i>Oxford Times</i>
Contemporary and assured . . . There is a hint of Henry James in the lonely, bright and kindly young man from America
<i>Good Book Guide</i>
A beautifully written story, rich in evocative language and emotion.
<i>Northern Echo</i>
A thoughtful and entertaining read.
<i>Home & Country</i>
A complex and compelling detective story . . . surprising but satisfying
<i>Tablet</i>
Compelling reading with an array of skilfully conceived characters