Grandmothers
Nov 2019 · Penguin UK
5.0star
2 reviewsreport
Ebook
304
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About this ebook
From Sunday Times bestselling author of The Librarian, Salley Vickers
'Heart-warming... Grandmothers is a beautifully written and moving celebration of this love, too often unsung, that reaches out across the generations' The Times
Grandmothers is the story of three very different women and their relationship with the younger generation: fiercely independent Nan, who leads a secret life as an award-winning poet when she is not teaching her grandson Billy how to lie; glamorous Blanche, deprived of the company of her beloved granddaughter Kitty by her hostile daughter-in-law, who finds solace in rebelliously taking to drink and shop lifting; and shy, bookish Minna who in the safety of shepherd's hut shares with her surrogate granddaughter Rose her passion for reading. The outlook of all three women subtly alters when through their encounters with each other they discover that the past is always with us and that we go on learning and changing until the very end.
Grandmothers is a beautifully observed, sometimes subversive, often tender and elegiac novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Librarian.
'A fond portrait of what it is to love a child, both yours and not... a tonic for the overlooked modern grandmother' Sunday Times
'Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand. She's a presence worth cherishing in the ranks of modern novelists' Philip Pullman
'Heart-warming... Grandmothers is a beautifully written and moving celebration of this love, too often unsung, that reaches out across the generations' The Times
Grandmothers is the story of three very different women and their relationship with the younger generation: fiercely independent Nan, who leads a secret life as an award-winning poet when she is not teaching her grandson Billy how to lie; glamorous Blanche, deprived of the company of her beloved granddaughter Kitty by her hostile daughter-in-law, who finds solace in rebelliously taking to drink and shop lifting; and shy, bookish Minna who in the safety of shepherd's hut shares with her surrogate granddaughter Rose her passion for reading. The outlook of all three women subtly alters when through their encounters with each other they discover that the past is always with us and that we go on learning and changing until the very end.
Grandmothers is a beautifully observed, sometimes subversive, often tender and elegiac novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Librarian.
'A fond portrait of what it is to love a child, both yours and not... a tonic for the overlooked modern grandmother' Sunday Times
'Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand. She's a presence worth cherishing in the ranks of modern novelists' Philip Pullman
Ratings and reviews
5.0
2 reviews
Grace J. Reviewerlady
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November 7, 2019
This is the first novel I have read by Salley Vickers but it most certainly won't be the last! As the title implies, this is about grandmothers - three of them, in fact. Unknown to each other in the beginning, they each have very different relationships with their grandchildren. Nan often looks after her grandson Billy and they have a strong relationship; Blanche loves both her son's children, but has a really special relationship with Kitty whilst Minna has an honourable granddaughter in Rose. These three women come from varying walks of life and as they become acquainted, it has a profound impact on all of them. What a wonderful book this is; the author has a real ability for creating characters with an empathetic nature, a sense of fun and caring whilst all the time threaded through with realism. This is such a touching read. Perhaps I found it more so as I am myself a grandmother. Relationships with out grandchildren are the best of all; really special, to be treasured, and it all comes across beautifully in this novel. Not a book I'm going to forget for a long time, if ever, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. An absolute pleasure to have read this one, and nothing less than five wonderful stars will do!
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Salley Vickers is the author of many acclaimed novels including the best-selling Miss Garnet's Angel, Mr Golightly's Holiday, The Other Side of You and The Cleaner of Chartres (Viking 2012) and two short story collections, the latest The Boy Who Could See Death (Viking 2015). She has worked as a cleaner, a dancer, a teacher of children with special needs, a university lecturer and a psychoanalyst. She now writes and lectures full time. Find out more at www.salleyvickers.com or @SalleyVickers.
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