THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE by MAGGIE O' FARRELL

THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE

BY MAGGIE O'FARRELL

THE BLURB:-

Fresh out of university and in disgrace, Lexie Sinclair is waiting for life to begin. When the sophisticated Innes Kent turns up on her doorstep in rural Devon, she realises she can wait no longer, and leaves for London. There, Lexie carves out a new life for herself at the heart of bohemian 1950s Soho, with Innes by her side.

In the present, Ted and Elina no longer recognise their lives after the arrival of their first child. Elina, an artist, wonders if she will ever paint again, while Ted is disturbed by memories of his own childhood- memories that don't tally with his parents' version of events.

As Ted's search for answers gathers momentum, so a portrait is revealed of two women separated by fifty years, but linked by their passionate refusal to settle for ordinary lives.

THE REALITY:-

What a wonderful book! This is the second Maggie O' Farrell novel that I've read and, as with the first, I read it through in a couple of days. An interesting and easy read.

I'm always slightly uncertain about writing in the present tense but the author seems to make it work. I liked the way she played with scenes- she described a love scene backwards (very fascinating) and dropped hints regarding Lexie, our 1950s heroine, and her early demise (although Innes' death came as a total and unprecedented shock.)  Her descriptions of motherhood are detailed and so real that you can almost reach through the page and touch them and her storytelling really brought Lexie's London to life.

I like the way the two tales intertwine via the location of buildings- the place where Innes kept his offices is now, fifty years on, the coffee shop that Ted pops into most days- and how the place seems to keep an imprint of its previous occupants. I found the memory loss and deja vu suffered by Ted very atmospheric and also loved the way the author almost violently described the near-death experience Elina had whilst bringing her son into the world, and the after affects of that traumatic labour. I liked this unusual, foreign character, with her artistic bent and her alternative style of dressing. Put a story together that involves art, bohemian fashion, writing, London and unconventional, daring women and it's hard to go wrong with me.

I buy most of my books from charity shops. I will get a Kindle but, for me, nothing quite beats opening a real, living, breathing book. I bought this one from a Saint Francis' Hospice charity shop. I like to support them as they looked after my friend as she died her untimely death from ovarian cancer a couple of years ago. I always manage to find some good reads in this shop, some of them very current, such as Gone Girl, The Dress Thief (which I was about to order from Amazon) and my previous Maggie O' Farrell novel, The Vanishing Act Of Esme Lennox. I will make it my business to seek out more titles by this riveting author and learnt some lessons regarding writing from reading her work, which is always satisfying to do.