How I Live Now [Hardcover]

Meg Rosoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2004

It would be much easier to tell this story if it were all about a chaste and perfect love between Two Children Against the World at an Extreme Time in History. But let's face it, that would be crap. Daisy is sent from New York to England to spend a summer with cousins she has never met. They are Isaac, Edmond, Osbert and Piper. And two dogs and a goat. She's never met anyone quite like them before - and, as a dreamy English summer progresses, Daisy finds herself caught in a timeless bubble. It seems like the perfect summer. But their lives are about to explode. Falling in love is just the start of it. War breaks out - a war none of them understands, or really cares about, until it lands on their doorstep. The family is separated. The perfect summer is blown apart. Daisy's life is changed forever - and the world is too.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Possibly one of the most talked about books of the year, Meg Rosoff's novel for young adults is the winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2004. Heralded by some as the next best adult crossover novel since Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, who himself has given the book a thunderously good quote, this author's debut is undoubtedly stylish, readable and fascinating.

Rosoff's story begins in modern day London, slightly in the future, and as its heroine has a 15-year-old Manhattanite called Daisy. She's picked up at the airport by Edmond, her English cousin, a boy in whose life she is destined to become intricately entwined. Daisy stays at her Aunt Penn's country farmhouse for the summer with Edmond and her other cousins. They spend some idyllic weeks together--often alone with Aunt Penn away travelling in Norway. Daisy's cousins seem to have an almost telepathic bond, and Daisy is mesmerized by Edmond and soon falls in love with him.

But their world changes forever when an unnamed aggressor invades England and begins a years-long occupation. Daisy and Edmond are separated when soldiers take over their home, and Daisy and Piper, her younger cousin, must travel to another place to work. Their experiences of occupation are never kind and Daisy's pain, living without Edmond, is tangible.

Rosoff's writing style is both brilliant and frustrating. Her descriptions are wonderful, as is her ability to portray the emotions of her characters. However, her long sentences and total lack of punctuation for dialogue can be exhausting. Her narrative is deeply engaging and yet a bit unbelievable. The end of the book is dramatic, but too sudden. The book has a raw, unfinished feel about it, yet that somehow adds to the experience of reading it. (Age 14 and over) --John McLay

From Publishers Weekly

This riveting first novel paints a frighteningly realistic picture of a world war breaking out in the 21st century. Told from the point of view of 15-year-old Manhattan native Daisy, the novel follows her arrival and her stay with cousins on a remote farm in England. Soon after Daisy settles into their farmhouse, her Aunt Penn becomes stranded in Oslo and terrorists invade and occupy England. Daisy's candid, intelligent narrative draws readers into her very private world, which appears almost utopian at first with no adult supervision (especially by contrast with her home life with her widowed father and his new wife). The heroine finds herself falling in love with cousin Edmond, and the author credibly creates a world in which social taboos are temporarily erased. When soldiers usurp the farm, they send the girls off separately from the boys, and Daisy becomes determined to keep herself and her youngest cousin, Piper, alive. Like the ripple effects of paranoia and panic in society, the changes within Daisy do not occur all at once, but they have dramatic effects. In the span of a few months, she goes from a self-centered, disgruntled teen to a courageous survivor motivated by love and compassion. How she comes to understand the effects the war has had on others provides the greatest evidence of her growth, as well as her motivation to get through to those who seem lost to war's consequences. Teens may feel that they have experienced a war themselves as they vicariously witness Daisy's worst nightmares. Like the heroine, readers will emerge from the rubble much shaken, a little wiser and with perhaps a greater sense of humanity. Ages 12-up. (Aug.)
Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Childrens Hardbacks (August 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141380756
• ISBN-13: 978-0141380759
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,224,011 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Meg Rosoff was born in Boston, educated at Harvard and St Martin's College of Art, and worked in New York City for ten years before moving to London permanently in 1989. She worked in publishing, politics, PR and advertising until 2004, when she wrote her first novel, How I Live Now, which won the Guardian Children's fiction prize (UK), Michael L Printz prize (US), the Die Zeit children's book of the year (Germany) and was shortlisted for the Orange first novel award. Her second novel, Just in Case, won the 2007 Carnegie Medal. Meg's latest book is The Bride's Farewell. She lives in London with her husband, daughter and two very hairy dogs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A deep, well-done read., May 21, 2005

By 

Tamela Mccann "taminator40" (Nashville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How I Live Now (Hardcover)

This is the story of Daisy, a fifteen year old who goes to England to live with her cousins in the not-too-distant future. It is not giving anything away to say that Daisy begins a love affair with her cousin Edmond, but all their lives are changed as a war breaks out and England becomes an occupied state. At first the kids are self-sufficient and untouched by the horrors, but as the story develops, shades of World War 2 begin to overcome them as they face separation, deprivation, and ultimate loss. Daisy speaks in a believable voice that takes you into her soul and makes you feel what she does. This one is highly recommended.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A YA book I couldn't put it down, January 26, 2005

By 

Reader "Carrie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: How I Live Now (Hardcover)

Told from the unforgettable point of view of a 15-year-old girl called Daisy, Meg Rosoff's HOW I LIVE NOW is a compelling debut novel that has much more meat on its bones than its narrator (who suffers from anorexia). Daisy is sent to England, war breaks out, and she and her cousins -- some of whom can read her mind -- are left without adult supervision. Daisy and her cousin Edmond fall in love, then are separated for the duration of the occupation, and they maintain a kind of pychic connection until something terrible happens to break it.

This is the kind of book you can't put down, one you wish would never end. Some people may quibble over Daisy's rambling thoughts. The sentences are long and the author and editor obviously didn't think punctuation essential. But Daisy's voice comes to you right as if she is talking and thinking, true and real and heartbreaking.

I highly recommend this book to both teens and adults.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intimacy Between The Gunshots, July 11, 2005

By 

Jon Linden (Warren, N.J. United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How I Live Now (Hardcover)

Truly a tremendous creation, Rosoff's book describes an apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic view through the eyes of a very sensitive and mature 14 year old girl. The story basically entails a young girl who is sent over to England to be out of her parent's way. But shortly after she gets there and gets to know her cousins, a war breaks out.

The book relates the trials and travails of wartime life. But that is just the basic story. What makes the book particularly special is Rosoff's articulation. Her story is clear and concise. And the sensitivity that is packed into a very short period of time/life abounds within the book. Daisy, the protagonist falls in love with her first cousin. The manner in which this interaction is described is nothing short of precious.

The book uniquely weaves a story of intense love and excruciating war conditions that are virtually spellbinding on the reader. Using a truly excellent stylistic technique, Rosoff also adds realism to the story by never using any obscenity in the book, but by referencing directly incidents of profanity and pornography that certainly would accompany any army. But above all, it is the clarity of presentation that makes this book a classic contribution to the young adult literature of the 21st Century.

The book is recommended highly for mid to late teenagers. In addition, it is a book with a level of compassion and feeling that would stir any reader. Truly a great book, it is recommended for all readers over the age of 13.