An urgent, moving and heartbreakingly beautiful love story that begins in 1970s Birmingham, The Trick of Time weaves tragedy with joy and passion to unforgettable effect.
Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2018
Mona is a young Irish girl in the big city, with the thrill of a new job and a room of her own in a busy boarding house.
On her first night out in 1970s Birmingham, she meets William, a charming Irish boy with an easy smile and an open face. They embark upon a passionate affair, a whirlwind marriage - before a sudden tragedy tears them apart.
Decades later, Mona pieces together the memories of the years that separate them. But can she ever learn to love again?
The Trick to Time is an unforgettable tale of grief, longing, and a love that lasts a lifetime.
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 9780241973417
Number of pages: 272
Weight: 191 g
Dimensions: 198 x 129 x 17 mm
Tender with a fierce undercurrent of tension and heartbreak - Jane Shemilt, bestselling author of 'Daughter'
The "trick to time" is that it can expand or contract at will, and in creating a mature heroine with decades of history, De Waal has herself performed a feat of skilful comprehension - Guardian Review
[An] emotionally sure-handed novel exploring harrowing terrain with deft sensitivity - Sunday Times
Moving and enlightening - Independent
A beautifully written, exquisitely crafted story of love, grief and the quiet courage it takes to survive great loss - S Magazine
A beautiful book - Andrew Marr
An aching tale of love and loss - Stylist
Excellent. The novel's ending will leave you reeling - Daily Mail
An unforgettable tale of grief and life-long love - Woman's Own
The Trick to Time starts gently and ratchets up the emotional intensity until you're ugly crying into your pillow - Sunday Times
Weaving tragedy and joy, big themes and the minutiae of life, this is a love story to take on the classics - Emerald Street
It's slight but engaging. The style is simple yet artful - Evening Standard
A story that's full of care; even in its saddest moments it is tender and kind. It feels like a book about all the best parts of being human, about family and friendship, and the way that loss only hurts the way it does because it's grounded in love. - S K Perry
These distillations of everyday life have all the beauty of a finely crafted life drawing - Financial Times
A warm and endearing book about learning to live again - Good Housekeeping
The Trick to Time proves that Kit de Waal is a writer destined for even greater things - Red
It would be fair to say I didn't need to buy any new books...but in my defence I loved Kit's first book and this cover was so wonderful!!
So now you understand I had to grab the one lonely copy on the shelf...
More
The Trick to Time is the story of Mona, a dollmaker from Ireland living in an English seaside town. As she approaches her 60th birthday she looks back over her life - a childhood in Ireland, the loss of her mother and... More
Set in the present day, this timeless novel tells the sad story of true love and loss. Approaching her sixtieth birthday, Mona makes clothing for wooden dolls that she sells in her own shop. Each bespoke doll has its... More
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