The Hand That First Held Mine

Jun 17, 2010 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Oh no, another favourite author releasing a new title – cue the sickening feelings of anxiety when I settle into the story , wondering if it will meet my expectations but any fears are quickly assuaged as I become immersed in this, Maggie O’ Farrell’s fifth novel. I devoured it in a few sittings – one of those books you are eager to embrace but loath to leave.

Like it’s predecessor, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, there is a cleverly woven dual narrative, one set in the 1950s/1960s in Bohemian...more Oh no, another favourite author releasing a new title – cue the sickening feelings of anxiety when I settle into the story , wondering if it will meet my expectations but any fears are quickly assuaged as I become immersed in this, Maggie O’ Farrell’s fifth novel. I devoured it in a few sittings – one of those books you are eager to embrace but loath to leave.

Like it’s predecessor, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, there is a cleverly woven dual narrative, one set in the 1950s/1960s in Bohemian London and the contemporary story, again set in London. In the 50s setting, Lexie leaves the bucolic setting of her family home in Devon at the tender age of 21, intent on finding a new life in London. She meets and is seduced by Innes Kent, a seemingly most unsuitable partner and they fall for each other, working together on a magazine in Soho. From an, at times, irritating ingenue Lexie develops into a strong, independent woman working her way up in the male dominated sector of journalism. It’s fair to say that life does not treat her that kindly – she becomes a single mother without any family support, her family disowns her when she takes up with Innes.

The modern day story focuses on Elina, a Finnish painter who lives with her partner, Ted. When we first encounter Elina she seems to be suffering some sort of post-traumatic disorder following a particuarly harrowing emergency caesarean birth and to begin with, motherhood does not sit very well with her especially as she seems to have blotted out all memories of giving birth. Later, Ted is the one to suffer flashbacks of suppressed memories and you start to wonder if this couple can withstand the immediate changes brought to the dynamic of their relationship by the arrival of the Baby. I must say, it’s refreshing to see a novelist showing how new parenthood can cause a seismic shift in a partnership – it doesn’t matter what class you are, how old you are, being a parent makes you feel more vulnerable.

There is a link between these two stories, a connection which gradually reveals itself as the novel progresses with a series of teasing hints and clues sprinkled in the narrative. However, I feel that the bridge between the two stories is less important than the common themes which colour both – there is love, romantic love, platonic love, maternal love, paternal love, infatuation, passion, contentment in another’s company. There is loss and grief and how we deal with such facts of life. There is the recurrent motif of family secrets and lies which can cloud future generations. Maggie O’ Farrell is an expert at portraying well rounded, feisty female characters but here she also succeeds in capturing a very strong sense of male sensibilities via Ted and also Innes. It certainly serves to create a more balanced storyline to have both male and female perspectives, especially how the different male characters react to fatherhood.

It’s clear that Maggie O’ Farrell has done her research – I could sense the sounds, sights and smells of 50s Soho and in the modern day setting, I could empathise with the trauma of an emergency caesarean and the slightly surreal atmosphere which accompanies the arrival of your first child. She has a lightness of touch which tempers the research and lets the narrative flow. Yes, it’s a novel which deals with a lot of sadness and grief but there is a feeling of optimism, of looking ahead also which lifts it from the doldrums.

So, not that I’m impatient but….when will we get the next novel? I don’t think I can wait another four years….
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Dec 30, 2010 Bee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: jan-2011

Although choosing a favourite author is tough, when forced to do so I would more often than not, answer with Maggie O'Farrell as mine. I find her style of writing beautiful, almost melodic and so incredibley descriptive and evocative of the senses that you really feel like you step into the world of the characters whilst reading.

However, this was based on her first three books, and I have to say that despite being SO excited for the release of 'The Vanishing Act of Esme May' (only book I've ever...more Although choosing a favourite author is tough, when forced to do so I would more often than not, answer with Maggie O'Farrell as mine. I find her style of writing beautiful, almost melodic and so incredibley descriptive and evocative of the senses that you really feel like you step into the world of the characters whilst reading.

However, this was based on her first three books, and I have to say that despite being SO excited for the release of 'The Vanishing Act of Esme May' (only book I've ever pre-ordered!) I wasn't as enthralled as I'd hoped. In fact I was quite disappointed afterwards. Now with the release of 'The Hand That First Held Mine' it feels like Maggie O'Farrell has conciously changed paths as an author, now prefering to write historical fiction based in past worlds and decades. I totally respect her decision to do this but personally, I feel she has lost the edge and suspense and pase her previous books had.

The Hand That First Held Mine follows two seperate stories of female characters living in London in different decades - fifty years apart - told side by side. Lexi is a frustrated country girl of the 1950s, who gives up her family and home to escape to the bright lights of London and in it finds love, a career and what it is to lose them. In the modern day, Elina is a Finnish girl living in London with her boyfriend Ted. The complicated arrival of their baby stirs lost feelings and memories in both of them, and pushes their relationship to breaking point as they both scramble to do the best for their newborn son. Although both stories play out seperately; small clues and tiny blink-and-you'll-miss-them hints sewn into each story slowly reveal that perhaps there is more intertwining them than first meets the eye...

As I said, Maggie O'Farrell writes poetically and this book is no different. The book is also incredibly realistic and well researched; from the descriptions of bustling Soho to the uncomfortable rawness of how parenthood can be intensely wonderful but also twist and challenge lives and relationships. The book taps into an obsession of mine which is thinking about what buildings were in previous incarnations before my lifetime in London, and what they would have looked like and everything that happened in them and on the roads outside. I love thinking about who walked down the same streets as me and what they were doing and wearing and thinking. Maggie O'Farrell writes this into the book beautifully.

However the reason this isn't a 5* review is just that I felt the storylines were slightly predictable and clumsy in parts. Shock occurances leap from nowhere in places and then nothing happens for chapter after chapter. In particular I felt Elinas storyline very repetative and sluggish, compared to Lexis vibrant almost too drama-packed life. I'm sure this juxtaposition was intended but I felt it really jarred sometimes and I'd be tempted to flick past Elinas sections to get back to the 1950s.

I would definitely recommend this book for reading, as it's another high quality book from an extremely talented author, but I would also say if you've never read a Maggie O'Farrell novel that it'd be better to start with The Distance Between or My Lovers Lover which I consider up there in my favourite ever books.
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Feb 07, 2012 Georgina rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I enjoyed it, it was a quick read, a compelling read - I wanted to know. The language was poetic and original with a strong voice. The theme of lost mothers - in many senses - was well depicted and cleverly varied. The ennui of the early days of motherhood was particulary well depicted. I didn't feel anything though, for any of the characters. Their individuality did not seem fully rounded; I didn't feel I knew enough about anyone, I wanted to know the answers to many more 'whys'. In particular,...more

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Aug 19, 2010 Lori rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, fiction

The plot was interesting, but it moved too slowly for me. More than 100 pages in, and it was still not clear how the two different story lines were related.

The author also spends a lot of time on the descriptions of the characters' surroundings, which I found annoying. They were too long, often unnecessary, and they kept the story from progressing. (Do I really need to know every time the baby arches his back to look up at the ceiling? That there was pannini bread on the floor of the coffee sho...more

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Aug 02, 2011 JChipol added it · review of another edition

After having read “After You’d Gone” very recently, I looked forward to reading another novel by Maggie O’Farrell. “The Hand That First Held Mine” is her fifth book, and the winner of The Costa Novel Award, and as a friend lent it to me, it was the next O’Farrell experience for me.

This novel tells the parallel stories of Lexie Sinclair a young woman in post-war England, and Elina and Ted, new parents struggling to get back on their feet after the traumatic birth of their first child.

The two st...more After having read “After You’d Gone” very recently, I looked forward to reading another novel by Maggie O’Farrell. “The Hand That First Held Mine” is her fifth book, and the winner of The Costa Novel Award, and as a friend lent it to me, it was the next O’Farrell experience for me.

This novel tells the parallel stories of Lexie Sinclair a young woman in post-war England, and Elina and Ted, new parents struggling to get back on their feet after the traumatic birth of their first child.

The two storylines are connected but, at first, it is not clear how. Maggie O' Farrell writes beautifully about the complexities of family relationships spread across two generations and which you somehow know are going to collide eventually. (Though you are not sure how and, similar to After You’d Gone, as readers, our journey of discovery follows that of the characters.)

Alexandra (Lexie) Sinclair is an unconventional young university graduate who runs away from her controlling family home in Devon to the excitement of 1950s Soho. Here she meets and falls in love with the dashing Innes Kent, a magazine editor with a very messy personal life.

In present-day London, Elina (a Finnish artist in her early thirties) is recovering from the traumatic birth of her first child and cautiously navigating the disorienting first few weeks of motherhood. Just as she starts to recover and regain some sense of order to her life, her partner Ted starts to suffer from blackouts and flashbacks from a troubled childhood.

The lives of the main characters collide in traumatic ill fortune, which only reveals itself at the end of the novel (which I will try not to spoil for you here).

The book, although a good one, I felt was not of the same compelling mastery of “After You’d Gone”. I started to care about some of the characters (Innes was a great one, as were the two main female characters) but the novel’s impact was diluted somewhat by the weaker characterisation of others; for example Margot’s mother, Gloria, was described as pure evil and portrayed somewhat as a 2-Dimentional cartoon Cruella Deville. I also had a great deal of trouble suspending my disbelief that a married man in his 50s could not have realised that his birth mother was not who he had thought (did he not need his birth certificate to get married?)

However, even after some of the major ‘flaws’ in the plot, I still thought that it was quite a compelling book and read it relatively quickly. Maggie O’Farrell’s main characters are beautifully drawn and her images of women, with their complicated emotional thought processes, are artfully painted and her descriptions of love and relationship, as well as bringing to the surface some of our deeply rooted fears of loss, are thought provoking, beautifully observed and artfully described. The plot, though flawed, is still a good read. I would recommend this book, though if this is your first introduction to the writing of Maggie O’Farrell, I would urge you to read “After You’d Gone” as I feel it is the superior book of the two.

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May 21, 2013 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Right from the opening paragraph you could tell Maggie O'Farrell was going to take us on a special poetic journey with this book. Everything was described in such lyrical detail that you could see it all painted clearly in the back of your eyelids as you are reading along.

I liked how the two stories were woven together. The 'bizzy spells' were cleverly aligned with the counter story and but it wasn't until towards the end that I saw what was happening - it was done in a way that wasn't glaringl...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Louise rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This novel was a mixed bag for me. At time, the writing is rather wonderful, indeed it would be worth the read to study and enjoy the first chapter alone, because therein lies the writer Maggie O’Farrell at her best. The scene in Soho is masterful, and again I would say worth picking up just to read this section. Unfortunately, the writing style becomes tiresome the further into the narrative you go, perhaps because the characters never quite live up to what the reader might have expected of the...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Marleen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I actually rated this book 3.5 stars.

What to say about this book? I was a bit disappointed by it. The blurb seemed to promise more than the book actually delivered. Yes it is a story set at two different times (the 1950’s and the present) and yes they are connected, but not in the way the blurb suggests. I didn’t see a lot of similarities between Elina and Lexie other than that they live their lives according to their own agenda. As for the connection between the two stories, I had that figured...more I actually rated this book 3.5 stars.

What to say about this book? I was a bit disappointed by it. The blurb seemed to promise more than the book actually delivered. Yes it is a story set at two different times (the 1950’s and the present) and yes they are connected, but not in the way the blurb suggests. I didn’t see a lot of similarities between Elina and Lexie other than that they live their lives according to their own agenda. As for the connection between the two stories, I had that figured out long before the details were revealed in the story, which took some of the intended tension away.

I find myself getting increasingly annoyed with the blurbs that come with books. I realize that they are meant to make a book sound as enticing as possible in a limited amount of words, but is that really an excuse for suggesting story-lines that aren’t really there? In this case it is Ted’s search which is mentioned in the blurb but doesn’t really take place in the story. While Ted is aware that some things aren’t quite right with his memories, he isn’t actively looking for answers. And when he does stumble across the reason for his doubts it is by accident, and not the result of his “search”.

I did appreciate the realistic picture of motherhood this book gave. While there is no doubt that both Elina and Lexie love their sons with all their hearts, the story does show the insecurities, frustrations and complications that accompany motherhood. Having said that, Elina’s part of the story seemed to be about little else except the way in which she was adjusting to her new status, and that got a bit boring after a while. And I have a problem believing that it would have been easier for Lexie to adjust to motherhood, in her circumstances and during the 1960’s, than it was for Elina in the present.

Well written and easy to read I still found that the story in this book didn’t completely captivate me. I enjoyed reading it but wasn’t really interested in the characters or what was happening to them. It felt as if I was observing the story as it unfolded as through a mist, as if there was a barrier between me and it. This was especially true for the contemporary part of the story. I completely failed to connect with Ted and Elina. Lexie’s story was far more interesting, probably because her story covers a much longer period and had a lot more happening in it.

This is by no means a bad book and I’m sure there will be lots of readers for whom this book works perfectly well. It just wasn’t the book for me at this time. And considering that this book won the Costa Award, I’m perfectly willing to accept that this is the result of either my taste or my mood rather than the qualities of this book.

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Feb 06, 2013 Eleni rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book after hearing ladies raving about it by the pool in the condo complex where we are temporarily living (and where many guests are vacationing). It lives in the library behind the reception desk, which is probably my favorite way to discover books--picking up those others left behind on vacation, which makes me feel connected to other reader and inspires me to read books I wouldn't otherwise. Anyway, I found this to be very engaging (especially the part written in swinging post-wa...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Valerie Derbyshire rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

SPOILER ALERT IN THIS REVIEW!!! I am with some of the other reviewers of this book, in that it took me a little while to get into it and it took me even longer to start enjoying it and actively wanting to know what the outcome was going to be. Previously, I had read "After You'd Gone" which just made me cry buckets, it was so powerfully touching and emotional; and, then, "My Lover's Lover" which left me cold with the disappointment of such a poor second offering. My Mum had told me that she had...more SPOILER ALERT IN THIS REVIEW!!! I am with some of the other reviewers of this book, in that it took me a little while to get into it and it took me even longer to start enjoying it and actively wanting to know what the outcome was going to be. Previously, I had read "After You'd Gone" which just made me cry buckets, it was so powerfully touching and emotional; and, then, "My Lover's Lover" which left me cold with the disappointment of such a poor second offering. My Mum had told me that she had not enjoyed this one and so I was preparing for more of the latter experience than the former. The truth was, however, that my experience of reading this book was somewhere in the middle. The first part of the book, and in particular, the section which concerned Elina and her traumatic experience of birth, I found mawkish and sentimental. There was just too much agonising over the fact that she had nearly died during the birth of her baby; that she'd lost "four pints of blood". The stark truth is that giving birth is a dangerous activity. Lots of women nearly die during it (I nearly died giving birth to my second son. His heart stopped too, resulting in an emergency section and unexpected haemmorage, but I didn't waste time fretting about it - I was just bloody glad that both he and I were alive). I think because of this personal experience, I found Elina's and Ted's agonising over Jonah's birth (and near death) experience irritating. Indeed, I found myself skipping over these chapters concerning the modern day characters to get to the characters in the fifties, who I found engaging and interesting. I particularly liked Lexie, with her strong character and O'Farrell's portrayal of her love affair with Innes Kent was especially powerful. If there is one thing O'Farrell does well, it is writing about the all consuming themes of love and loss. It was only later in the story, when all the threads of the story began to be pulled together that I came to see the real relevance of Elina's traumatic birth experience, in that this is essentially a story about motherhood, our disparate approaches towards it and the significance it holds over every woman's life. Even Margot, who never gets to experience the birth part beyond her miscarriages and her empty nursery room, becomes more approachable and likeable as a character when she becomes Ted's adoptive mother. It was after this point that I began to really enjoy the book. Reading it, like all O'Farrell's work, is an emotional experience and she always writes well, so it's worth a read, even if you don't (like my mother) particularly enjoy the subject matter. That said, I would have preferred more of Lexie and Innes and less of Elina and Ted. (less)

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Jan 01, 2013 Hannah Wingfield rated it 5 of 5 stars

After You’d Gone was so good that it left me reeling, and even asking the librarian as I returned it “have you read this? You must read it. It’s the best book I’ve read all year”. I thought it was something special, and when I first started reading The Hand That… I even left comments on my post about After You’d Gone saying that nothing could top it. I take it all back – this was even better! So good in fact that in re-reading this post before publication I know I sound like a gibbering wreck, u...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Meghan Laslocky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some readers might take issue with the painstaking details that characterize this novel -- the descriptions of new baby detritus, the stain under a carpet, the sway of a child's swing -- but to me they were utterly absorbing and delightful. "The Hand That First Held Mine" is like silver filigree -- shining, delicate yet strong, and I'd be hard pressed to think of a book that better portrays the early months of motherhood. There's one passage in particular -- and you'll known it when you read it...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Ferdinand, Jr. rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A heartbreaking 2.5
Yes, I should have marked it 3 stars if the rules of rounding off numbers are to be followed. However, I chose to truncate all decimal values, so I marked it with 2 stars even if I rated it 2.5.

The Hand that First Held Mine is the first book by Maggie O'Farrell I have read, and it was the biggest disappointment this 2012. This book had potential. I really mean it. It was the premise that pushed me to read the book. I guess I just expected more than what I got.

First of all, the...more

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Jan 07, 2012 Sibyl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I always find Maggie O'Farrell's books highly readable.

But this one seemed less than the sum of its parts. Maybe it's that I recognised patterns that were familiar from her earlier novels. People fall instantly and passionately in love. But rather than maturing into couples who bicker about the washing up, someone inevitably dies - so that there can be an equally passionate period of mourning.

Other - newer - themes were oddly unsatifying. Elina, one of the novel's two heroines, is Finnish. Yet t...more

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Jan 06, 2012 Shweta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book had a very gripping plot. There were two stories both very interesting moving along side each other in different time periods. In the beginning for quite a long time I tried to find some connection between them but they had nothing in common.Nothing that I could see. I think this is what kept me puzzled and reading until I got completely immersed in both the stories and was hell bent on finding where all this lead. Frankly speaking it moved me on many levels.

First and foremost was the...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Diana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I probably liked this as much as I did because it deals with the London art world of the mid-20th century, an area of interest for me. The book weaves together two stories – one set in present-day London involving a new mother, Elina, and her partner Ted and their young baby, and a second about a young woman named Lexie who moves to London from the countryside after the war and finds love and a career. The contemporary story did much less for me, although O'Farrell captures well the sense of tim...more

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Oct 10, 2011 Laurel Bradshaw rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 20th-century, art-and-artists, domestic-fiction, england, family-secrets, psychological-fiction, audiobook

Sound recording narrated by Anne Flosnik. This was a very interesting dual-timeframe story. The author's prose evokes detailed images. I loved many of her descriptions, especially the minutiae of motion. It was like reading a film or a screen play, if that makes sense. It fits the story, since Ted is a film editor. Things move back and forth in time, sometimes you get a kind of slow-motion sequence, scenes cut back and forth and somehow all ends up as a satisfying whole. I will admit that I expe...more Sound recording narrated by Anne Flosnik. This was a very interesting dual-timeframe story. The author's prose evokes detailed images. I loved many of her descriptions, especially the minutiae of motion. It was like reading a film or a screen play, if that makes sense. It fits the story, since Ted is a film editor. Things move back and forth in time, sometimes you get a kind of slow-motion sequence, scenes cut back and forth and somehow all ends up as a satisfying whole. I will admit that I expected the ending to be more dramatic somehow. As you move through the story you wonder if it is going to turn into some kind of gothic horror or murder mystery, and hopefully, it isn't a spoiler to say that in the end it is really only about motherhood and the power (both for good and bad) of the mother/child connection. (Which really I should have figured out from the title, and the picture on the audiobook cover of a child's hand holding a woman's hand...but I didn't.)

Description:
Lexie Sinclair is plotting an extraordinary life for herself.

Hedged in by her parents' genteel country life, she plans her escape to London. There, she takes up with Innes Kent, a magazine editor who wears duck-egg blue ties and introduces her to the thrilling, underground world of bohemian, post-war Soho. She learns to be a reporter, to know art and artists, to embrace her life fully and with a deep love at the center of it. She creates many lives--all of them unconventional. And when she finds herself pregnant, she doesn't hesitate to have the baby on her own terms.

Later, in present-day London, a young painter named Elina dizzily navigates the first weeks of motherhood. She doesn't recognize herself: she finds herself walking outside with no shoes; she goes to the restaurant for lunch at nine in the morning; she can't recall the small matter of giving birth. But for her boyfriend, Ted, fatherhood is calling up lost memories, with images he cannot place.

As Ted's memories become more disconcerting and more frequent, it seems that something might connect these two stories-- these two women-- something that becomes all the more heartbreaking and beautiful as they all hurtle toward its revelation.

The Hand That First Held Mine is a spellbinding novel of two women connected across fifty years by art, love, betrayals, secrets, and motherhood. And it is a gorgeous inquiry into the ways we make and unmake our lives, who we know ourselves to be, and how even our most accidental legacies connect us.

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Sep 30, 2011 Susan Mann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It’s not often I really love a book enjoy to want to re-read it. There are many fantastic books out there I want to read; re-reading is way down on my priorities. However, I’ll definitely re-read this book. It’s fantastic and beautifully written.
Starting in Devon, it begins with Lexie Sinclair, going from her quaint little life there, following the intriguing Inness Kent to London. Then carries on with the bohemian lifestyle she lived in the 1950’s in London where she starts a career in journal...more

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Jul 09, 2011 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow! What a perfect and jarring book to read right now. O'Farrell's novel follows two stories: present day Elina and Ted and their newborn and Lexie, a writer living in artistic Soho London after WWII.

Because I have a newborn of my own, it was eerie to be up in the middle of the night, feeding my own baby and reading about exhausted Elina, up in the middle of the night, feeding her baby. O'Farrell's successfully captures that blurry, anxious, sleepless feeling that dominates the first several w...more

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May 10, 2011 Katie Heriot rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Genre: Fiction

Award: Costa Award

Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary: The Hand That First Held Mine follows two stories. The first of Lexie Sinclair, a young girl who runs away from boring life in the country to post-war London where she holds her ground as a strong, admirable journalist. She takes on this adventure with Innes Kent. Her love story with Innes is intense and their intellectual connection is one to dream about.
The second of a modern day couple, Elina and Ted who also resides in London. Elina...more

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Apr 17, 2011 Lauren rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, library

My first Maggie O'Farrell read. Seems to be a good middle ground between literary fiction and chick lit.

Two stories, the first of Lexie who runs away from her dull countryside family home at 21 for the exciting city life, arriving in post-war London. She is head strong and passionate and obsessive, but admirable and honest and heartbreaking. She is willful and stands her ground in a male dominated society, works at a magazine and later a newspaper, first female staff writer. Tragic love story....more My first Maggie O'Farrell read. Seems to be a good middle ground between literary fiction and chick lit.

Two stories, the first of Lexie who runs away from her dull countryside family home at 21 for the exciting city life, arriving in post-war London. She is head strong and passionate and obsessive, but admirable and honest and heartbreaking. She is willful and stands her ground in a male dominated society, works at a magazine and later a newspaper, first female staff writer. Tragic love story. The alternating chapters focus on modern day couple Elina and Ted who also live in London and have just had a baby. They both struggle with memory and sleep deprivation that leads them into the past. I like the link between the two worlds, deliberately stopped myself from thinking ahead to where it would lead until the story actually took me there (might have been too predictable otherwise).

I have been thinking a lot about showing vs telling in writing, and how to differentiate between the two.

Originally, I felt that this focused heavily on telling. There was a bit too much of the short sentence description passages 'she did this, wore that dress and that pair of stockings, tied her hair up with that ribbon, sat down on that chair, then looked out that window, picked up that pen, stood and walked over to that table' etc, but after a while I got used to it and I guess, despite utterly lacking any subtlety, it was a useful way to create a scene. But then, in complete contrast, there were many moments where I found myself thinking that she had just perfectly shown me how a character felt without directly telling me any of their thoughts or reactions, instead making me feel that outrage or injustice or anger or despair as though it were my own. And those scenes made me realise how beautifully she had created the build up and the moment itself.

There were a few plot developments that were a bit too convenient, too coincidental, but I liked them so I think they can be forgiven.

I developed an emotional attachment to the characters - not enough to cry at their death/s, but enough to feel strongly when they were wronged, and to feel hopeful for their futures. Despite myself, I kind of wished I could be like Lexie.(less)

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Apr 15, 2011 Yvann S rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having seen this reviewed all over the blogosphere, I had to try it out for myself. It suffered a little for being the story of two generations, set in London in the 1960s and 1990s/2000s – just like The Last Letter From Your Lover, which I read immediately before it.

I found some parts of this really quite uncomfortable, particularly the evident trauma of birth and new motherhood on Elina and the obvious doom lurking around Lexie and Innes’ relationship. However, if anything that made this a bet...more Having seen this reviewed all over the blogosphere, I had to try it out for myself. It suffered a little for being the story of two generations, set in London in the 1960s and 1990s/2000s – just like The Last Letter From Your Lover, which I read immediately before it.

I found some parts of this really quite uncomfortable, particularly the evident trauma of birth and new motherhood on Elina and the obvious doom lurking around Lexie and Innes’ relationship. However, if anything that made this a better read – challenging the reader and not allowing the book to become a cotton candy-coloured cloud like Last Letter.

The characters were exquisitely formed – each very different and all strong and vibrant. I loved Lexie. Her fiery adherence to her principles in the face of the prospect of an “easier life” (particularly her refusal to apologise to her university – which I can only assume from the context is supposed to be Oxford/Cambridge – for using a door meant for men when exiting an exam hall and her seaworthy expletives while giving birth, despite the nurses’ admonishing). Innes and Ted are both strong male characters (for once! Everything I read seems to be filled with either philandering fools or foppish, useless Mummy’s boys) whose love for their partners is fierce and unyielding. Margot, too, is a solid creation, difficult and emotional.

My favourite character was definitely Elina, however. I was delighted to see an author tackle the bilingual experience – both the compulsion of the bilingual to speak their non-English language in certain situations, and the perception of this by their partner. And O’Farrell blesses Elina with inherent coolness (“Often, after one of those walking-about nights, she’d had that look the next day; a woman preoccupied, a woman with a satisfying secret”) which serves as a counterpoint to the exhaustion and apathy of motherhood.

For the first four-fifths of the book, this is simply two interwoven stories, when suddenly a mystery is flung into the plot, suddenly livening up the ending (by which point there’s not much space for character development any more) – which really impressed me.

I will definitely be recommending this, although I will have to advise readers to stick with it and get used to the back-and-forth chapters, which I found quite off-putting at first. Very much worth the effort.(less)

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Apr 09, 2011 Caroline rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, contemporary, historical-fiction

The book follows two stories. The first one is about Lexie Sinclair, a young girl in the 1950s who decides to leave her family and follow the intriguing Innes Kent to London where she starts a career in journalism. The second is about Elina and Ted, whose child is born, and where we see the difficulty of motherhood for Elina and the progressive appearance of Ted's memories about his own childhood. The book is an ode to family, love and life.

I wasn't sure what to expect about this book, I read it...more The book follows two stories. The first one is about Lexie Sinclair, a young girl in the 1950s who decides to leave her family and follow the intriguing Innes Kent to London where she starts a career in journalism. The second is about Elina and Ted, whose child is born, and where we see the difficulty of motherhood for Elina and the progressive appearance of Ted's memories about his own childhood. The book is an ode to family, love and life.

I wasn't sure what to expect about this book, I read it as part of a book group at work so I didn't exactly choose it. I completely fell for the cover, I think it is one of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen. It has also a link to the story since the photograph on the book was taken by John Deakin who is mentioned in the book.

I have been literally blown away by the story and by the incredibly sophisticated and poetic writing. You have the impression of having your five senses titilated throughout the book and you can't help but be mesmerised by the story.

Lexie's story was my favourite part of the book, and the book could have been a stand alone novel telling only her story (though after finishing it, I understand the choice of the two stories). She has an amazing personality and the decade in which she evolves has always been in my mind a thriving and fascinating period. Lexie is an absolutely wonderful character and I mourned the fact that she didn't really exist. She is strong, determined, intelligent and passionate. Her love story with Innes is intense and their intellectual connexion and evolution is fascinating. Had she existed, her life would have been told and told again in books and films. Her life was at her image - very passionate and intense. I would have loved to meet her and to learn things from her. She is one of the most interesting contemporary heroine literature has shown me for a long time. I may be a fantasy fan and love my stories to be very far from every day life, but when an extraordinary character rocks my ordinary world, I cannot not like her.

I had more issues getting into Elina's head and the first part of the book with her kind of put me off. I didn't see where the story was going, it felt too long and overly descriptive and I disliked Elina as a character. I continued reading the book because of my love for Lexie's story, and I was determined to see why anyone would put those two women in the same book. But as I read on, I started to see the bigger picture and realise that the book brought so much more than first met the eye. I won't spoil the story for you, but if you find yourself not liking the first part of Elina's story, don't give up on this wonderful book.

Elina and Ted's story brings a different take on the birth of a baby and how it fundamentally changes the parents. They have now to think about someone else than themselves. The birth also brings confusion and uncertainty as to what to do, but also a wave of memories of their own childhoods and what happened then.

As Maggie O'Farrell said in an interview, London appears as a third main character behind Lexie and Elina. Not only London but the famous Soho of the 1960s where culture and politics would intertwine constantly. Enthralling doesn't even cover it.

The story-telling is simply breath-taking. So much am I admirative of Maggie O'Farrell's writing that I will add her to my small list of authors of which I read every single book published without even glancing at the back cover. Not only is the story interesting and surprising, but the way the story is presented is pure pleasure. If you are an aficionado of beautiful writing - don't hesitate any further.

I will stop now with the ridiculous cheerleading of this book :) but if you like brilliant writing, adult fiction, the sixties and strong women character, this book is definitely made for you.(less)

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Mar 22, 2011 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A very long time ago I read After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell and I still remember the force of that very tragic and moving story, the beauty of the descriptions of the process of falling in love and staying together. With The Hand That First Held Mine I find that this author is again very strong in her depictions of modern, urban daily life (the coffee shops, the houses, the parks) and of the intimacy in a couple.
The novel is built as a series of yuxtapositions telling us the life of two wom...more A very long time ago I read After You'd Gone by Maggie O'Farrell and I still remember the force of that very tragic and moving story, the beauty of the descriptions of the process of falling in love and staying together. With The Hand That First Held Mine I find that this author is again very strong in her depictions of modern, urban daily life (the coffee shops, the houses, the parks) and of the intimacy in a couple.
The novel is built as a series of yuxtapositions telling us the life of two women belonging to different generations, living in different times. Lexie lives in Soho in the 1950s and 1960s mainly; Elina is Finnish and lives with her partner Ted in modern day Hampstead. A London novel, then. For me, who has never lived in London but loves visiting, who grew up with London as the stuff of dreams and books only, this is fantastic.
Lexie has "escaped" to London from rural England, and soon finds herself in love with the owner of a small arts magazine. They live and work together. Elina has just given birth to her first child, a boy, and Ted and her are fighting to come to terms with their new roles as Elina recovers from a very difficult delivery in which her life was even at risk.
As a mum, one of the most interesting parts of the book for me is this realistic, meaningful description of the early days of motherhood: the emotions, the fatigue, the frustrations, the things we lose and gain. Maggie O'Farrell is very good at this, particularly more apparently mundane areas such as breastfeeding or simply the difficulties of getting out of the house with a very young baby!
In terms of suspense, I robbed myself of some joy as I pretty soon sussed what was going to turn out to be the conexion between both women, as soon as I noticed the author neglected to tell us the name of Elina's mother in law. At first, I thought Maggie O'Farrell was simply presenting us with an unsympathetic, self-centered mother in law who is not helping out a daughter in law who has suffered severe blood loss and is only just back at home. This seemed to be in line with her depiction of her midwife/health visitor. Later on, little by little, the possessive but inexperienced attitude of this lady is made clearer.
This is a very rich, full book that has many different layers of meaning and will appeal to many different people, not just women or mums.(less)

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Mar 12, 2011 Jules rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked but didn’t love this book despite its many blinding cover reviews and recommendations and whilst I appreciated the multi-layered dual-approach timelines coming together (in the end), it took me a while to find links between the past/present narratives that O’Farrell creates. After reading previous reviews, it appears to me that you can be a mega-fan of O’Farrell or that you can find her writing ‘simply ok’. Personally, I think she is a somewhat ‘neat’ writer but her plots (if this book i...more

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Mar 04, 2011 Emma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought this was a truly beautiful book that will continue to play on my mind in the days to come. As a mother with two young children, I thought it was a realistic portrait of motherhood and how our relationship with our mother and our children can have far-reaching consequences - good and bad - over the years.

I particularly identified with Elina's experience of a traumatic c-section and the early days of motherhood. Having experienced much the same as this character, I was transported back...more I thought this was a truly beautiful book that will continue to play on my mind in the days to come. As a mother with two young children, I thought it was a realistic portrait of motherhood and how our relationship with our mother and our children can have far-reaching consequences - good and bad - over the years.

I particularly identified with Elina's experience of a traumatic c-section and the early days of motherhood. Having experienced much the same as this character, I was transported back in time and found these passages of the book incredibly real. At the same time, I could identify with Elina's disjointed 'unreal' feelings, a sense of time not making sense, of losing time, of losing herself and the shock of waking into a new world of motherhood, of having your life ripped apart and having to build a new life as a mother, partner, friend, person in your own right.

I absolutely loved Lexie as a character, as well as her relationship with Innes. There was something very real about Lexie - her life is a rich fabric of good and bad experiences that shape and define her. Maggie O'Farrell does an amazing job at making Lexie a fully realised character - she is not defined by a single characteristic or broken by tragedy. As in real life, time passes, she adapts and moves forward because that is what happens. Above all, her love for Theo is so tangible and true that there were times I could barely breath for the emotion it created in me.

As well as a book about motherhood and love in its various guises, this novel made me think about how it is the small things that change and shape a life as well as the big, life-changing events like becoming a parent or losing a loved one. A chance meeting, a hair clip under a bed, choosing to go for a swim - Maggie O'Farrell shows how life can change completely when we least expect it.

I cried several times while reading this book but ultimately, it left me feeling optimistic. This was my first Maggie O'Farrell book thanks to a recommendation from a trusted friend but I have a feeling it will be far from my last.
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Feb 19, 2011 Kiwiflora rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A beautifully told and poignant story of the universal themes of love - romantic love, marriage and motherhood.

In the early 1950s, 21 year old Lexie Sinclair is desperate to escape her boring, house bound life in the country lanes of Devon. Out of the blue appears the divine Innes Kent. Naturally they fall instantly in love, and he whisks her off to a new exiting life in London. Which for a time it is, then naturally things start to unravel.

Running parallel to the lives of Lexie and Innes, are...more A beautifully told and poignant story of the universal themes of love - romantic love, marriage and motherhood.

In the early 1950s, 21 year old Lexie Sinclair is desperate to escape her boring, house bound life in the country lanes of Devon. Out of the blue appears the divine Innes Kent. Naturally they fall instantly in love, and he whisks her off to a new exiting life in London. Which for a time it is, then naturally things start to unravel.

Running parallel to the lives of Lexie and Innes, are the lives of Elina and Ted, also living in London, but fifty plus years later. Elina has just given birth prematurely to a baby boy, Theo, and almost lost her own life in the process. Elina struggles with motherhood as do many new mothers - the loss of her former identity, the physical and emotional demands of a very young baby, the lack of time to give to herself. Ted feels guilty for having got her pregnant in the first place, and finds that fatherhood unearths very deep memories of his own childhood and certain things that don't quite match up.

In alternating chapters, the stories of these two women and the men in their lives are gently and lovingly told. There may be fifty odd years between the lives of Lexie and Elina, and different challenges and crises happen to both of them, but throughout is their unconditional love and devotion to their babies which is what makes them get up in the morning and get on with the day. And thus have a life.

I loved this book. Lexie and Elina, Innes and Ted are very real people, they could be anyone that we may know. Strangely the whole story is narrated in the present tense which gives the reader the sense of being a fly on the wall, as if we are actually in the room watching a day unfold, or listening to a conversation. It is also very descriptive of life in London in the 1950s, from the streets, to the office buildings, to the clothes to the houses. Not so much description of course of modern day settings, but the writing is just as rich.

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Jan 25, 2011 Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars

“Listen. The trees in this story are stirring, trembling, readjusting themselves. A breeze is coming in gusts off the sea, and it is almost as if the trees know, in their restlessness, in their head-tossing impatience, that something is about to happen. The garden is empty; the patio deserted, save for some pots with geraniums and delphiniums shuddering in the wind. A bench stands on the lawn, two chairs politely facing away from it. A bicycle is propped up against the house but its pedals are s...more

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Dec 05, 2010 Maya rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-2010

I read through this book, quickly, almost headlong, with a few stutters.
I find that ever since the birth of the first of my children, my ability to disconnect sufficiently from certain books enough to enjoy them has been difficult: in other words, anything involving hazards to small children, death, separation..shall I go on? has been severely compromised. I hope this doesn't go on forever: my current state of mind never would have allowed me to experience Jane Eyre, say, or Oliver Twist.

This he...more

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Nov 12, 2010 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read Maggie O'Farrell's novel The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox a few years back and found it a haunting story. I looked forward to reading her next book, The Hand That First Held Mine.

It's not a book that grabbed me right away, but I'm glad I stuck with it because the resolution of the story was heartbreaking. O'Farrell expertly weaves two stories together, and I didn't know where she going with it until about three quarters of the way through, and then I was devastated.

The story alternates be...more I read Maggie O'Farrell's novel The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox a few years back and found it a haunting story. I looked forward to reading her next book, The Hand That First Held Mine.

It's not a book that grabbed me right away, but I'm glad I stuck with it because the resolution of the story was heartbreaking. O'Farrell expertly weaves two stories together, and I didn't know where she going with it until about three quarters of the way through, and then I was devastated.

The story alternates between Lexie, a young girl who leaves her family in the country to move to the big city after she meets a mysterious older man on the road outside her house. Innes Kent becomes her lover and mentor as she works for his magazine. Innes is married, but that doesn't stop them.

Years later we met Ted and Elina. Elina has just gone through a traumatic birth, losing four pints of blood in the process. She has a difficult time caring for the baby, but Ted must go back to work as an editor. He worries about Elina and the baby, and then he begins to have blackouts. The birth of his child has triggered something in him, something he has repressed.

Ted tries to put together what happened in his childhood that could be causing his troubles today. He remembers a lovely woman holding his hand, but it isn't the hand of his mother, who is a cold woman. As Ted tries to put the pieces together, the story lines meet.

O'Farrell is a marvelous story teller, and one passage just flat-out knocked me out. A mother, upon knowing she is drowning and will not see her young son grow thinks,
"She would not see him grow as tall as her then taller. She would not be there when someone first broke his heart or when he first drove a car or when he went out alone into the world or when he saw, for the first time, what he would do, how he would love and with whom and where. She would not be there to knock sand out of his shoes when he came off the beach. She would not see him again."
As a mother, those words just devastated me. It is every mother's nightmare.

I liked the character growth of Lexie, and that surprised me as I didn't like her at first. I also enjoyed that I didn't see where this book would end up, that is unusual for me, and I think that shows the skill of the author.
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