The Hand That First Held Mine
From the best-selling author of The Vanishing of Esme Lennox comes a spellbinding novel that shows there are no accidents, in life and in love. Frustrated with her parents' genteel country life, Lexie Sinclair plans her escape to London. There, she takes up with Innes Kent, a magazine editor...
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From the best-selling author of The Vanishing of Esme Lennox comes a spellbinding novel that shows there are no accidents, in life and in love. Frustrated with her parents' genteel country life, Lexie Sinclair plans her escape to London. There, she takes up with Innes Kent, a magazine editor who introduces her to the thrilling, underground world of bohemian, postwar Soho. She learns to be a reporter, comes to know art and artists, and embraces her freedom fully. So when she finds herself pregnant, she doesn't hesitate to have the baby on her own. Later, in present-day London, a young painter named Elina dizzily navigates the first weeks of motherhood and finds she can't remember giving birth, while her boyfriend Ted is flooded with memories and images he cannot place. As their stories unfold—moving in time and changing voice chapter by chapter—a connection between the three of them takes shape that drives the novel towards a tremendous revelation. Praised by The Washington Post as a “breathtaking, heart-breaking creation,” The Hand That First Held Mine is a gorgeous and tenderly wrought story about the ways in which love and beauty bind us together.
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Format: hardcover
ISBN:
9780547330792 (0547330790)
Publish date: April 12th 2010
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages no: 341
Edition language: English
In her usual arresting style, O'Farrell tells the reader two intertwined stories. The first is the story of a young woman living in postwar London, and the second a contemporary man and woman embarking on parenthood. It is not made clear until nearly two-thirds of the way through the book exactly ho...
Maggie O’Farrell’s The Hand That First Held Mine may not be the most challenging piece of fiction I’ve read in recent months, but it is definitely one of the most enrapturing. The novel tells the vibrant tale of two seemingly separate lives led in different time periods in London. First is Lexie, a ...
Having recently read [b:The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox|250729|The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox|Maggie O'Farrell|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348843114s/250729.jpg|3050927] and loved it, I was eager to read another book by [a:Maggie O'Farrell|91236|Maggie O'Farrell|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1...
Still formulating my opinions about this read. O'Farrell reminds me somewhat of William Trevor. Intimate character studies with a twist. Admirably depictions of independent women, and particularly poignant portrayals of motherhood. I reserve the right to amend this upon reflection.
I actually rated this book 3.5 stars.What to say about this book? I was a bit disappointed by it. The blurb seemed to promise more than the book actually delivered. Yes it is a story set at two different times (the 1950’s and the present) and yes they are connected, but not in the way the blurb sugg...