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The Past (Hardback)
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The Past (Hardback)

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£16.99
Hardback 368 Pages
Published: 03/09/2015

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"There is something reassuring yet deliciously unexpected about a Tessa Hadley novel." (Helen Brown, Daily Telegraph). Over five novels and two collections of stories Tessa Hadley has earned a reputation as a fiction writer of remarkable gifts, and been compared with Elizabeth Bowen and Alice Munro. In her new novel three sisters and a brother meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. The house is full of memories of their childhood and their past - their mother took them there when she left their father - but now they may have to sell it. And under the idyllic surface, there are tensions. Roland has come with his new wife and his sisters don't like her. Kasim, the twenty-year-old son of Alice's ex-boyfriend, makes plans to seduce Molly, Roland's teenage daughter. Fran's children uncover an ugly secret in a ruined cottage in the woods. Passion erupts where it's least expected, blasting the quiet self-possession of Harriet, the oldest sister. A way of life - bourgeois, literate, ritualised - winds down to its inevitable end. With uncanny precision and extraordinary sympathy, Tessa Hadley charts the squalls of lust and envy disrupting this ill-assorted house party, as well as the consolations of memory and affection, the beauty of the natural world, the shifting of history under the social surface. From the first page the reader is absorbed and enthralled, watching a superb craftsman at work.

“Tessa Hadley excels at presenting the contrasting viewpoints of children, teenagers and adults and her evocative descriptions of the English countryside are a delight.” - The Mail on Sunday

Publisher: Vintage Publishing
ISBN: 9780224101691
Number of pages: 368
Weight: 508 g
Dimensions: 221 x 138 x 33 mm

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“So enthralling!! ”

What does a poorly bookseller do when she can't go into work? She reads, of course. And she's currently reading our intriguing Book of The Month. From the very first moment of introduction, I feel that I... More

Paperback edition
Helpful? Upvote 126
Bernadette Murchan at Newry

“Compulsive reading”

An enjoyable examination of family life and the ghosts that haunt it. It was a compulsive read and I really rooted for certain characters, especially Harriet. Now that I have finished the book I find that I still... More

Paperback edition
3 similar books recommended
Helpful? Upvote 116

“What thoughts ?”

I found the idea s in this book very moving, and it s was an intriguing read.
I recommend you to give this book a try..... white needle tea in hand in the sunshine.

Paperback edition
Helpful? Upvote 30

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