The Hand That First Held Mine
Author(s): Maggie O'Farrell
A gorgeously written story of love and motherhood, this is a tour de force from one of our most acclaimed and 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.
Product Information
Winner of Costa Novel Award 2010. Shortlisted for Galaxy National Book Awards: Waterstone's UK Author of the Year 2010.
'O'Farrell has a remarkable ability to convey the texture of human emotion with precision. In THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE, she also demonstrates a masterful gift for storytelling' -- Observer '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' -- Daily Mail 'The journey this novel invites us on is wonderful, involving time travel, heartache, elation, confusion, freedom, nostalgia and art' -- Scotland on Sunday '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... an entirely encompassing and beautiful read' -- Heat magazine 'In this fantastic read, O'Farrell weaves together two stories that couldn't be more different... Just how they're connected will keep you guessing till the end' -- Now magazine
Maggie O'Farrell was born in Northern Ireland in 1972, and grew up in Wales and Scotland. She now lives in London. She has worked at the Poetry Society and at the Independent on Sunday, where she was Deputy Literary Editor. Her debut novel, AFTER YOU'D GONE, was published to international acclaim, and won a Betty Trask Award.
General Fields
- :
- : Headline Publishing Group
- : Headline Review
- : 0.46
- : 01 April 2010
- : United Kingdom
- : books
Special Fields
- : 352
- : very good
- : 823.92
- : Paperback
- : Maggie O'Farrell