*As featured on BBC Radio 4's 'A Good Read'*
Winner of the 2010 Costa Novel Award and a Sunday Times bestseller (2010), THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE is a gorgeously written story of love and motherhood from the author of HAMNET and THE MARRAIGE PORTRAIT.
When the sophisticated Innes Kent turns up 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. In the present day, Elina and Ted are reeling from the difficult birth of their first child. Elina struggles to reconcile the demands of motherhood with her sense of herself as an artist, and Ted is disturbed by memories of his own childhood that don't tally with his parents' version of events. As Ted begins to search for answers, an extraordinary portrait of two women is revealed, separated by fifty years, but connected in ways that neither could ever have expected.
Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
ISBN: 9780755308460
Number of pages: 384
Weight: 260 g
Dimensions: 196 x 130 x 30 mm
O'Farrell has a remarkable ability to convey the texture of human emotion with precision... 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
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 - Heat magazine
O'Farrell is a skilful, impassioned writer...engaging and fluent - Sunday Telegraph
Genuinely unputdownable...evidence of her place as one of Britain's most engaging contemporary novelists - Literary Review
O'Farrell has a remarkable ability to convey the texture of human emotion with precision - Observer
Like Daphne du Maurier...O'Farrell writes books designed to...bring our most primal fears to the surface - Daily Mail
I would highly recommend this wonderful book. It is the first Maggie O'Farrell book that I have read yet, I was attracted to it by the front cover, which I found a nice picture. The story was very intriguing, and... More
I found this book quite disturbing and I have mix feelings about it: interesting plot and characters but all the relationships described (women/men, mothers/babies, fathers/babies) left me a sensation of uneasiness
One word...fantastic! I was gripped from the very first page to the very last one, I didn't want it to finish. The two stories slowly intertwined together gives the book a feeling of mystery all mixed up with... More
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