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The Hand That First Held Mine

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The Hand That First Held Mine

By: Maggie O'Farrell
Narrated by: Karen Cass
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Summary

An unforgettable novel of love and motherhood from best-selling author Maggie O'Farrell.

Winner of the 2010 Costa Novel Award and a Sunday Times best seller, The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell is a gorgeously written story of love and motherhood from the author of This Must Be the Place.

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 50 years, but connected in ways that neither could ever have expected.

©2010 Maggie O'Farrell (P)2012 Headline Digital Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking England
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Critic reviews

"O'Farrell has a remarkable ability to convey the texture of human emotion with precision. In The Hand That First Held Mine, 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)
"The journey this novel invites us on is wonderful, involving time travel, heartache, elation, confusion, freedom, nostalgia and art." ( Scotland on Sunday)
All stars
Most relevant
such a great story so well read. first Maggie o Farrell for me but wont be the last.
beautiful x

amazing

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A perfectly fine novel but not one that grabbed me. one issue was that I was much more interested in one narrative than another (I liked the 2000s narrative to the 1960s/70s one). I found the older narrative much less gripping and the character less rounded.

Solid without being exceptional

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As always beautifully written historically accurate full of detailed and interesting characters. Takes awhile to get into and sometimes the juxtaposition of the two stories slightly awkward Have a good read recommended

It’s like a thriller

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One of the best books I've "read" this year. A cleverly constructed plot, beautifully written & narrated.

Clever writing

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Gorgeous prose with a gripping narrative and faultless rhythm. Great narration and now searching for next book by Maggie O’farrell. Came to this after reading Hamnet and in my opinion this is even better.

Wonderful book

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