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A Complicated Matter

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

A young woman's extraordinary journey of self-discovery and an intimate meditation on what it takes to find our place in the world.


I used to believe the world had been created for me; every stone and grain of sand. As I grew older, I began to think of myself as something tacked on to the edge.

1939, London: From McPhail's Passage to Kensington's Grand Palace Hotel, Rose Dunbar is evacuated from her humble home on the Rock of Gibraltar and dropped into a chaotic city of falling bombs, perplexing class rules and bad weather. Despite being 'flagrantly foreign' to the locals, she becomes an efficient go-between for the upper-class ladies helping out with the war effort and her own tribe of noisy displaced families.

It is only when she is shifted to the countryside to become secretary to the plain-speaking and sightless Major Inchbold that Rose's dizzying journey to womanhood will become more surreal than ever, as she drinks tea at the vicarage, shields her best friend from abuse and stands up for the lower orders. But Rose's greatest dilemma is yet to come, as she must decide where her home - and her heart - really lies.

In Anne Youngson's wry and sublimely understated prose, this unique and beautiful story of love, class and belonging is also a profound and intimate meditation on what it takes to find our place in the world.

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Praise for ANNE YOUNGSON:

'Tender, wise and moving, Meet Me at the Museum is a novel to cherish.' JOHN BOYNE
'Insightful, emotionally acute and absorbing' DAILY EXPRESS
'Beautiful and affecting' NINA STIBBE

©2023 Anne Youngson (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

A tender, often wry novel, rendered with impressive period authenticity
MAIL ON SUNDAY
Skilful, understated. Comes compellingly to life
HARPER'S BAZAAR
Note-perfect. Like a forgotten classic republished by Persephone Books or Virago
East Riding magazine
A touching story full of love and humanity
YOURS magazine
A beautiful story of love and belonging
WOMAN'S WEEKLY
An absolute delight
SAGA
Author Anne Youngson
Narrator Ana Clements
Duration 11 hours and 10 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781529900286
Format Audiobook
Publisher Transworld
Genre Crime and mystery: women sleuths, Family life fiction, Historical fiction, Second World War fiction
Availability AU, GB, IE

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