SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZEIn a red brick mansion block off the Marylebone Road, Vivien, a sensitive, bookish girl grows up sealed off from both past and present by her timid refugee parents. Then one morning a glamorous uncle appears, dressed in a mohair suit, with a diamond watch on his wrist and a girl in a leopard-skin hat on his arm. Why is Uncle Sándor so violently unwelcome in her parents' home?This is a novel about survival - both banal and heroic - and a young woman who discovers the complications, even betrayals, that inevitably accompany the fierce desire to live. Set against the backdrop of a London from the 1950s to the present day, The Clothes on Their Backs is a wise and tender novel about the clothes we choose to wear, the personalities we dress ourselves in, and about how they define us all.
Les mer
The brilliant new novel by Orange Prize winner, Linda Grant, about the legacies of history, longlisted for the Orange Prize, 2008 and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, 2008
** 'If you read only one novel this year, make sure it is The Clothes on Their Backs
The Clothes on Their Backs reflects on the human capacity for survival and renewal, on intractable differences and the shocking ease with which some individuals resort to violence. - Adelaide Advertiser Grant has written a compelling story, and she evokes the 1930s through to the 1970s extremely well, balancing an immediacy that is almost olfactory with a nostalgia that works like a faded Kodak print.' - The Age She skilfully stitches together a story about morality, identity and belonging with a captivating plot. The clothes are splendid minor characters. - Hobart Mercury Graphically set in 1970s London, and immersed in the business of private history, this is a highly readable book Grant is a talented storyteller who has something serious to say - The Weekend Australian Spanning the 1950s to the present day, this is a chronicle not only of a family but also of London s social fabric, an expanding patchwork of displaced communities and racial, political and religious tensions. - Good Reading Grant s seamless style illustrates the complexities of identity and empowerment. - The Big Issue Grant writes of with an observant and sympathetic eye. - Sun-Herald characters, who are each so complex and beautifully vivid that they could command novels all of their own - Time Out Sydney
Les mer
The brilliant new novel by Orange Prize winner, Linda Grant, about the legacies of history, longlisted for both the Orange Prize, 2008 and the Man Booker Prize, 2008
