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The Hand That First Held Mine

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What to expect

Winner of the 2010 Costa Novel Award and a Sunday Times bestseller, 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 fifty years, but connected in ways that neither could ever have expected.

(P)2012 Headline Publishing Group Ltd

Critics Review

O'Farrell has a remarkable ability to convey the texture of human emotion with precision... 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
This story is elegant, poetic and tenderly written. The characters are so well-written you feel as if they are sat next to you, telling you their stories... a beautiful read
Heat magazine
O'Farrell is a skilful, impassioned writer...engaging and fluent
Sunday Telegraph
Genuinely unputdownable...evidence of her place as one of Britain's most engaging contemporary novelists
Literary Review
'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
'Genuinely unputdownable... evidence of her place as one of Britain's most engaging contemporary novelists'
Literary Review
Author Maggie O'Farrell
Narrator Karen Cass
Duration 11 hours and 3 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9780755399307
Format Audiobook
Publisher Headline
Genre Family life fiction, Historical fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Interior life
Availability AU, GB, IE

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