First Aid - Softcover

Davey, Janet

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316059978 ISBN 13: 9780316059978

Publisher: Back Bay Books, 2006

Synopsis

From the author of the acclaimed English Correspondence comes this story of fraught relationships, of a woman caring for her teenage daughter, son and toddler. It is a story of how everyone would like to escape the ties that bind, and begin afresh.

About this title

About the Author:

Janet Davey lives in London, where she taught for many years, and is the mother of two grown children. FIRST AID marks her American literary debut.

From Booklist:

Jo is one of those vague people who let life flow over and around them without ever taking control. She was raised by her very conventional grandparents, and she eventually married the equally conventional Peter and had three children. Peter tired of Jo's indecision and left her for another woman. Then handsome, charismatic Felpo appeared and moved in with Jo and her kids. Davey's story picks up when Felpo commits a shocking act of violence, and Jo flees back to her grandparents' home in London. Jo's daughter, Ella, refuses to go along, and it is through Ella that the dark secret behind Felpo's violence is revealed. The story is troubling and even frustrating at times (Why can't Jo shake off her malaise?), but Davey's languid prose and leisurely plot manage to capture perfectly a family's interactions and conflicts, the angst and uncertainty of the teenage years, and the challenges and rewards of single parenthood. A well-crafted, affecting mix of thriller and literary fiction with skillfully drawn characters and expressive writing. Emily Melton
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About this edition

• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0316059978
• ISBN 13: 9780316059978
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 225