The Hand That First Held Mine
On sale
6th January 2011
Price: £12.99
Genre
British Isles / Historical Fiction / Modern & Contemporary Fiction (post C 1945) / United Kingdom, Great Britain
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Audiobook Downloadable / ISBN-13: 9780755383993
Winner of the 2010 Costa Novel Award, THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE is a gorgeously written story of love and motherhood, a tour de force from one of our best loved novelists.
When the bohemian, sophisticated Innes Kent turns up by chance on her doorstep, Lexie Sinclair realises she cannot wait any longer for her life to begin, and leaves for London. There, at the heart of the 1950s Soho art scene, she carves out a new life for herself, with Innes at her side. In the present day, Elina and Ted are reeling from the difficult birth of their first child. Elina, a painter, struggles to reconcile the demands of motherhood with sense of herself as an artist, and Ted is disturbed by memories of his own childhood, memories that don’t tally with his parents’ version of events. As Ted begins to search for answers, so an extraordinary portrait of two women is revealed, separated by fifty years, but connected in ways that neither could ever have expected.
(P)2010 Headline Digital
When the bohemian, sophisticated Innes Kent turns up by chance on her doorstep, Lexie Sinclair realises she cannot wait any longer for her life to begin, and leaves for London. There, at the heart of the 1950s Soho art scene, she carves out a new life for herself, with Innes at her side. In the present day, Elina and Ted are reeling from the difficult birth of their first child. Elina, a painter, struggles to reconcile the demands of motherhood with sense of herself as an artist, and Ted is disturbed by memories of his own childhood, memories that don’t tally with his parents’ version of events. As Ted begins to search for answers, so an extraordinary portrait of two women is revealed, separated by fifty years, but connected in ways that neither could ever have expected.
(P)2010 Headline Digital
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Reviews
'O'Farrell has a remarkable ability to convey the texture of human emotion with precision'
'Like Daphne du Maurier...O'Farrell writes books designed to...bring our most primal fears to the surface'
'O'Farrell is a skilful, impassioned writer...engaging and fluent'
'Genuinely unputdownable...evidence of her place as one of Britain's most engaging contemporary novelists'
O'Farrell has a remarkable ability to convey the texture of human emotion with precision... she also demonstrates a masterful gift for storytelling
Like Daphne du Maurier before her, Maggie O'Farrell writes books designed to stir up the female subconscious and bring our most primal fears to the surface...this book will leave your stomach in knots
This story is elegant, poetic and tenderly written. The characters are so well-written you feel as if they are sat next to you, telling you their stories... a beautiful read
O'Farrell is a skilful, impassioned writer...engaging and fluent
Genuinely unputdownable...evidence of her place as one of Britain's most engaging contemporary novelists