The Hand That First Held Mine
Lexie Sinclair is plotting an extraordinary life for herself. Hedged in by her parents' genteel country life, she plans her escape to London. There, she takes up with Innes Kent, a magazine editor who wears duck-egg blue ties and introduces her to the thrilling, underground world of bohemian,...
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Lexie Sinclair is plotting an extraordinary life for herself. Hedged in by her parents' genteel country life, she plans her escape to London. There, she takes up with Innes Kent, a magazine editor who wears duck-egg blue ties and introduces her to the thrilling, underground world of bohemian, post-war Soho. She learns to be a reporter, to know art and artists, to embrace her life fully and with a deep love at the center of it. She creates many lives--all of them unconventional. And 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. She doesn't recognize herself: she finds herself walking outside with no shoes; she goes to the restaurant for lunch at nine in the morning; she can't recall the small matter of giving birth. But for her boyfriend, Ted, fatherhood is calling up lost memories, with images he cannot place. As Ted's memories become more disconcerting and more frequent, it seems that something might connect these two stories-- these two women-- something that becomes all the more heartbreaking and beautiful as they all hurtle toward its revelation. Here Maggie O'Farrell brings us a spellbinding novel of two women connected across fifty years by art, love, betrayals, secrets, and motherhood. Like her acclaimed The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, it is a "breathtaking, heart-breaking creation."*And it is a gorgeous inquiry into the ways we make and unmake our lives, who we know ourselves to be, and how even our most accidental legacies connect us. *The Washington Post Book World
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Format: ebook
ISBN:
9780547487274 (0547487274)
Publish date: April 12th 2010
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
Pages no: 352
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...