What do Mrs H., Rachel, Edwina, Ida, Sarah, Dot, Chrissie have in common? They're all women, but they're fat, thin, old, young, married or single - and appear as diverse as human nature can be. But they are all survivors. This enthralling novel follows the ripples that go out into ordinary lives that have been changed by a shared experience, all connected by the same hospital clinic in a small Northern town.
This is a novel about what it means to live in the shadow of disease, and with scars, whether mental or physical. From the marvellous ambivalence of the title question, it leaves us with a whole lot more to consider about life and its infinite variety.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review:
"Few authors share Margaret Forster's extraordinary ability to transform the ordinary day-to-day activities of unremarkable people into compelling fiction... Written with brilliant and exquisite sensitivity" (Daily Mail)
"Written with enormous sensitivity and compassion" (Red)
"The kind of novel into which you plunge with satisfaction" (Sunday Times)
"Accomplished...moving" (Times Literary Supplement)
"Written with insight, wit and tremendous style" (Spectator)
From the Publisher:
Like her acclaimed Have the Men Had Enough? Forster's latest novel is a characteristically compelling, clear-eyed, humane and heartbreaking novel about a taboo subject - and about what it feels like to be a survivor...
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherVintage
- Publication date2006
- ISBN 10 0099472139
- ISBN 13 9780099472131
- BindingPaperback
- Edition number1
- Number of pages256
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Rating