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The Hand That First Held Mine

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The Hand That First Held Mine

By: Maggie O'Farrell
Narrated by: Karen Cass
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An unforgettable novel of love and motherhood from best-selling author Maggie O'Farrell.

Winner of the 2010 Costa Novel Award and a Sunday Times best seller, The Hand that First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell is a gorgeously written story of love and motherhood from the author of This Must Be the Place.

When the sophisticated Innes Kent turns up on her doorstep, Lexie Sinclair realises she cannot wait any longer for her life to begin and leaves for London. There, at the heart of the 1950s Soho art scene, she carves out a new life. In the present day, Elina and Ted are reeling from the difficult birth of their first child. Elina struggles to reconcile the demands of motherhood with her sense of herself as an artist and Ted is disturbed by memories of his own childhood that don't tally with his parents' version of events. As Ted begins to search for answers, an extraordinary portrait of two women is revealed, separated by 50 years, but connected in ways that neither could ever have expected.

©2010 Maggie O'Farrell (P)2012 Headline Digital Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Inspiring Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking England
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Critic reviews

"O'Farrell has a remarkable ability to convey the texture of human emotion with precision. In The Hand That First Held Mine, she also demonstrates a masterful gift for storytelling." ( Observer)
"Like Daphne du Maurier before her, Maggie O'Farrell writes books designed to stir up the female subconscious and bring our most primal fears to the surface... this book will leave your stomach in knots." ( Daily Mail)
"The journey this novel invites us on is wonderful, involving time travel, heartache, elation, confusion, freedom, nostalgia and art." ( Scotland on Sunday)
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It took many hours of listening, to largely descriptive writing, to arouse my interest in the lives of two couples whose separate stories alternate and switch back and forth in time. Having to keep readjusting to which couple’s life was being described and at which time in their lives added to my lack of engagement. The narratives focus too long on the relationships within each couple unanchored by time and place. Many chapters went by before I realised that Lexie and Innis met in the 1950s and Ted and Elina in the present century. After hours of mundane listening things did pick up, but not until the last 30 minutes or so of the recording do the two quite separate stories come together. There are two moderately interesting books in this one novel but the sum is less than the parts. The writing is good, but the disjointed nature of the book is a distraction.

The reader is good and did inject life into the characters

Separate stories take too long to come together

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Maggie O'Farrell has an effortless writing style. A hugely enjoyable book about motherhood and memory.

A testament to motherhood

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About the often complex and contrasting feelings of new motherhood. The added mystery and tension of Ted’s storyline made it an addictive and intriguing read. I’m not at all good at writing book reviews but wanted to try since I really enjoyed this and will be recommending it to all my girlfriends. Especially those with young children. It is validating to have the bare truth of how having a baby’s changes you and your relationships profoundly and not all of them are nice to adjust to.

Couldn’t be more honest

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Another brilliant Maggie O’Farrell, her books are just brilliant, so well observed and excellently fleshed our characters- it was beautifully read too.

Great

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I like this author, having read several of her books. Ending was possibly a little too predictable but over all a well crafted book. Concentrates upon relationships, feelings, art, gender roles, parental roles and responsibilities . Blends past and present. Bringing with it powerful, evocative images of 50s / 60s London with strong female characters. Can feel fragmented
initially but well worth persevering with.

A good read

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