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One Fine Day by Mollie Panter-Downes

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One Fine Day

Virago Modern Classics (Related to this series)

Narrator
Ali Mylon
Publisher
Little, Brown Book Group
Publish Date
30 April 2026
Run Time
6 hours 17 minutes
Format
Audiobook

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What to expect

'As profound as Katherine Mansfield, restrained as Jane Austen, sharp as Dorothy Parker' Independent

INTRODUCED BY NICOLA BEAUMAN

The lark rose in the brilliant air, higher, higher on its spun-glass spiral of song, knowing nothing of peace or war, accepting joyously the bounty of another day.

A hot summer's day in 1946. The village of Wealding is no longer troubled by distant sirens, yet the rusting coils of barbed wire are a reminder that something, some quality of life, has evaporated. Together again after years of separation, Laura and Stephen Marshall must find their way in an altered, shabbier world. Their rambling garden refuses to be tamed, the house seems perceptibly to crumble. Hour by hour, as the glorious weather holds, the Marshalls and their daughter Victoria are preoccupied by the small pleasures and irritations of everyday life. But alone on a hillside, as evening falls, Laura comes to see how much could have been lost - and how much the future might still hold.

Exquisitely written and achingly poignant, One Fine Day is an unforgettable portrait of a world, and a marriage, changed forever by war - perfect for fans of Small Pleasures and A Month in the Country.


'This short novel lyrically evokes the effect war has had on a small English village and, in particular, on one marriage . . . Beautifully written, it's a tribute to the women who held everything together as their men marched away' Daily Mail

Critics Review

  • Mollie Panter-Downes, a wartime voice to treasure . . . virtually forgotten these days, her work provides an unforgettably vivid impression of life in the second world war

    Guardian

  • Mollie Panter-Downes is as profound as Katherine Mansfield, restrained as Jane Austen, sharp as Dorothy Parker

    Independent

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Details

Author
Mollie Panter-Downes
Narrator
Ali Mylon
Duration
6 hours 17 minutes
Release Date
30 April 2026
ISBN
9780349021294
Format
Audiobook
Publisher
Little, Brown Book Group
Genre
Classic fiction: literary and general, Historical fiction, Family life fiction / Stories about family, Fiction: literary and general non-genre, Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general

Synopsis

'As profound as Katherine Mansfield, restrained as Jane Austen, sharp as Dorothy Parker' IndependentINTRODUCED BY NICOLA BEAUMAN The lark rose in the brilliant air, higher, higher on its spun-glass spiral of song, knowing nothing of peace or war, accepting joyously the bounty of another day. A hot summer's day in 1946. The village of Wealding is no longer troubled by distant sirens, yet the rusting coils of barbed wire are a reminder that something, some quality of life, has evaporated. Together again after years of separation, Laura and Stephen Marshall must find their way in an altered, shabbier world. Their rambling garden refuses to be tamed, the house seems perceptibly to crumble. Hour by hour, as the glorious weather holds, the Marshalls and their daughter Victoria are preoccupied by the small pleasures and irritations of everyday life. But alone on a hillside, as evening falls, Laura comes to see how much could have been lost - and how much the future might still hold. Exquisitely written and achingly poignant, One Fine Day is an unforgettable portrait of a world, and a marriage, changed forever by war - perfect for fans of Small Pleasures and A Month in the Country.'This short novel lyrically evokes the effect war has had on a small English village and, in particular, on one marriage . . . Beautifully written, it's a tribute to the women who held everything together as their men marched away' Daily Mail

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