The Very Thought of You
Rosie Alison
The Very Thought of You
England, 31st August 1939: the world is on the brink of war. As Hitler prepares to invade Poland, thousands of children are evacuated from London to escape the impending Blitz. Torn from her mother, eight-year-old Anna Sands is relocated with other children to a large Yorkshire estate which has been opened up to evacuees by Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton, an enigmatic childless couple. Soon Anna gets drawn into their unhappy relationship, seeing things that are not meant for her eyes - and finding herself part-witness and part-accomplice to a love affair, with tragic consequences.
2.8 out of 5 based on 3 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Fiction |
| Genre |
General Fiction |
| Format |
Paperback |
| Pages |
350 |
| RRP |
£12.99 |
| Date of Publication |
June 2009 |
| ISBN |
978-1846880865 |
| Publisher |
Alma Books |
| |
England, 31st August 1939: the world is on the brink of war. As Hitler prepares to invade Poland, thousands of children are evacuated from London to escape the impending Blitz. Torn from her mother, eight-year-old Anna Sands is relocated with other children to a large Yorkshire estate which has been opened up to evacuees by Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton, an enigmatic childless couple. Soon Anna gets drawn into their unhappy relationship, seeing things that are not meant for her eyes - and finding herself part-witness and part-accomplice to a love affair, with tragic consequences.
Reviews
The Daily Express
Charlotte Heathcote
“For all its melodrama, it still reduced this reader to a snivelling wreck ... The strength of The Very Thought Of You is not its literary merit or eloquence. Alison’s descriptions of Ashton Hall and her characters’ relationships lack conviction, while the plot could be structured more tautly. However, it builds momentum in the last 100 pages becoming a compulsive read.”
27/04/2010
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The Guardian
Nicola Barr
“Alison's debut is enjoyable enough – moving, even, by the end ... It does at times read like an artless melodrama as enacted by buttoned-up English ladies and gentlemen ... and its presence on the [Orange Prize] longlist is perplexing. But Anna is a likeable and memorable heroine who deserves her moment in the limelight.”
20/04/2010
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The Daily Telegraph
Jane Shilling
“Her story is elegantly constructed, with a plangent dying fall of a twist in the final scene, and richly patinated with the desires and regrets of country-house living.
The trouble is Alison’s characters. There are far too many of them, and they all have the same problem – of being out of love with the person that they’re married to, and keen to hook up with someone else. The narrative monotony is compounded by an omniscient third-person narrator who tells us what everyone is feeling, in terms that fail to distinguish between one character and another.”
18/03/2010
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