What happens to families and relationships when people find it impossible to say the words, "I love you?" Fathers failing sons, mothers failing daughters, wives and husbands and boyfriends and girlfriends all creating unhappiness and pain because they just can't admit to their emotions. Iris is someone who has experienced much pain in her life, and who early on was beset by schizonphrenic periods which led to her being institutionalised and separated from her family. Her daughter Vivie wants to break free of the shackles which she perceives as her inheritance, while Matthew longs to be with her and yet fails in his attempts to tell her. It takes a special event, Iris's first public speaking event following her breakdown, for the decades of mistrust to give way to reconciliation. We leave the characters on the brink of a resolution which will require immense courage from all sides. If a family's generation gap can bravely be dissolved, then there can at last be hope for happiness.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Utterly gripping - quite beautifully written and constructed...I can't praise it highly enough." Joanna Lumley
About the Author
Angela Young is a writer and editor who lives and works in London. She was commissioned by BBC Books to finish Edith Wharton's unfinished novel, The Buccaneers, which was was published in 1995. In 2002 she graduated from Middlesex university with an MA in Creative Writing and in May, 2003 was the first unpublished writer to be awarded a bursary by Arts Council England to begin researching and writing a novel.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful Novel, A Joy to Read.,
By Candida Moss "Candida" (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Speaking of Love (Hardcover)
What a beautiful, insightful piece of writing. This is one of the best books I've ever read about relationships and the need to express one's thoughts, especially love. I regard it as an essential read for anyone who's part of a family
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant - I loved this novel!,
By
This review is from: Speaking of Love (Hardcover)
I really enjoyed this novel! The structure is complicated, but brilliant. Written from several different viewpoints - the voices of the central characters - it began like a mystery requiring me, the reader to discover the relationship between each of the characters. I started out a little confused by the swift changes between voices, and flashbacks to earlier events, but soon relaxed as I realized that my questions were answered within a few pages of asking.
There are several themes to the novel. The central one is, as the title suggests, love, and the mental and emotional difficulties arising from neither acknowledging nor expressing it. A second important theme is the art of storytelling. Not only is Iris a storyteller who creates and performs her stories, but the author has used stories as metaphors within the novel to further the plot. I read the book while on vacation, and was glad I did as once into it, I could not put it down. I was moved to tears towards the end, and then suffered from severe "novel withdrawal!" This is Angela Young's first novel, and I hope there will be many more to follow.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
I have corne home, after a long and difficult journey. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
jealous widow, flint steps, laburnum tunnel, fumble fingers, royal goldsmith, jewelled scabbard, laburnum tree, jousting field, yellow buckeyes, blood hum, chequered cloth, snaggle tooth, striped rug, pewter jug, beech hedge, golden dagger Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
John Dexter, Bristol Channel, Rose Lawn, The Abbey, Great Crown Hunt, Thetford Forest, Green Man, Iris Marchwood, Albert Hall, John Chapman, Auntie Joan, Kit Marchwood, Atlantic College, Iris Stone, Ruth Carpenter, Viet Nam, King's Physician, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Old Brompton Road, Beach Road, Colhugh Road, Sir Galahad New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
I have corne home, after a long and difficult journey. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
jealous widow, flint steps, laburnum tunnel, fumble fingers, royal goldsmith, jewelled scabbard, laburnum tree, jousting field, yellow buckeyes, blood hum, chequered cloth, snaggle tooth, striped rug, pewter jug, beech hedge, golden dagger Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
John Dexter, Bristol Channel, Rose Lawn, The Abbey, Great Crown Hunt, Thetford Forest, Green Man, Iris Marchwood, Albert Hall, John Chapman, Auntie Joan, Kit Marchwood, Atlantic College, Iris Stone, Ruth Carpenter, Viet Nam, King's Physician, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Old Brompton Road, Beach Road, Colhugh Road, Sir Galahad New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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