The Finest Type of English Womanhood
Rachel Heath
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Fiction |
| Genre |
General Fiction |
| Format |
Hardback |
| Pages |
320 |
| RRP |
£12.99 |
| Date of Publication |
March 2009 |
| ISBN |
978-0091925864 |
| Publisher |
Hutchinson |
| |
It's 1946, and seventeen-year-old Laura Trelling is stagnating in her dilapidated Sussex family home, while her quietly eccentric parents slip further into isolation. Then she meets Paul Lovell - a chance encounter that will change the course of her destiny, and bring her a new life in pre-apartheid South Africa. Three years earlier, and many miles north, sixteen-year-old Gay Gibson is no less desperate to escape England. Gay's heart is set on stardom - but first she must find a way out of Birkenhead and the dreary prospect of secretarial college. When their paths cross in Johannesburg, Laura is exposed to Gay's wild life of parties and liaisons. Thrown together, each with her own agenda, the girls find their lives inextricably entangled, with fatal consequences.
Reviews
The Guardian
Catherine Taylor
"...an exceptionally well-written, suspenseful novel. Heath combines imaginative, fast-paced storytelling with an unerring sense of period, place and mood."
11/04/2009
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The Independent
Jane Jakeman
"Rachel Heath is excellent on the atmosphere of post-war Britain and the lure of South Africa... To dovetail known events with the plotting of fiction is not easy, and there are moments when reality breaks through – the witnessing of Gay's death seems improbable. But the twists keep the reader glued to a novel that would stand out on its own account with no help from criminal history."
17/03/2009
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The Daily Mail
Eithne Farry
"[A] dark, compelling debut... Heath skilfully recreates the trajectory of Gibson's life, but it's Trelling's equally damaged character - changing from a passive, bewildered child to world-weary adult as the calamitous events take their toll - which provides the vital emotional charge."
20/03/2009
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The Sunday Times
Elizabeth Buchan
"Laura is an innocent, and the novel is excellent on just how profound the ignorance of young girls in particular was in this period. Her bewilderment is plausible and dangerous. So, too, is her inevitable initiation into maturity and the subtle process of her corruption. The two plot lines — of Laura and Gay — are sometimes awkwardly juxtaposed, but there is a compulsion and persuasive assurance in the writing."
12/04/2009
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The Daily Telegraph
Chloe Rhodes
"The writing is strong and though the sections featuring Gay’s earlier life lose momentum, the story picks up pace when the girls’ paths become entwined and the conclusion is compelling and thrillingly macabre."
18/05/2009
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