Book description
Margaret Forster, in this engaging, intriguing novel, about a young
woman and two grandmothers, uncovers the shocking truths that family
history reveals.
The curiously named Isamay, a would-be academic, is trying to write
a coherent thesis about grandmothers in history - from Sarah Bernhardt
and George Sand to the matriarchal Queen Victoria and other
influential grannies - while constantly ambushed by the secrets her
own family has been keeping. An only child, she is named after her
grandmothers, Isa and May, who were there at her birth and who have
formed and influenced her in very different ways. Jealous of each
other, they both want to be first in their granddaughter's affections.
Isa has an edge, in that young Isamay looks like her, but Isa's
reserved and elegant exterior hides startling surprises that could
undermine her granddaughter's certainties. May, on the other hand, is
plump, indomitable and opinionated, and it's from her that Isamay
inherits her stubborn determination.
Isamay, almost thirty, has never wanted children, but suddenly
considers changing her mind. Her live-in lover, Ian (always mysterious
about his own family history) is sure that he does not want a child.
Engrossing, set in the present but with hooks into the past, this is
an unusual story about grandmothers and their potentially powerful
role in family life, about nature vs nurture, bloodlines and bridges
across generations.
Born in Carlisle, Margaret Forster is the author of many successful
and acclaimed novels, including
Have the Men Had Enough?,
Lady's Maid
,
Diary of an Ordinary Woman
,
Is There Anything You Want?
and most recently
Over
, as well as bestselling memoirs (
Hidden Lives
and
Precious Lives
) and biographies. She is married to writer and journalist Hunter Davies
and lives in London and the Lake District.
