Magpie - Softcover

Jill Dawson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 034065385X ISBN 13: 9780340653852

Publisher: Sceptre, 1999

Synopsis

In the dead of night, Lily Waite and her 5-year-old son, Matthew, arrive at their new home on a council estate in East London; their only possessions, two suitcases and a bag of charred remains. Their past is a mystery, Matthew's father nowhere in evidence, and Lily resolute in her need for privacy. But Lily has to come to terms with the events that precipitated her flight from Yorkshire and, as she relaxes enough to allow new relationships into her and her son's life, the secrets of the past finally begin to relinquish their hold on the future.

About this title

About the Author

Jill Dawson is the author of Trick of the Light, Magpie, Fred and Edie, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award and the Orange Prize, Wild Boy, Watch Me Disappear, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize, The Great Lover, a Richard and Judy Summer Read in 2009, Lucky Bunny and The Tell-Tale Heart. In addition she has edited six anthologies of short stories and poetry. Born in Durham, Jill Dawson grew up in Yorkshire. She has held many Fellowships, including the Creative Writing Fellowship at the University of East Anglia, where she taught on the MA in Creative Writing course. In 2006 she received an honorary doctorate in recognition of her work. She lives in the Fens with her husband, two sons and foster daughter.

Review

'This observational drama cleverly keeps you guessing throughout.' Wigan Evening Post, 17th July 1999 'A beautifully evocative novel about loneliness, friendship and love' Caryl Phillips [A] gem of a novel ... compelling, honest and unputdownable * List * One of the reasons for the book's success is its likeable central character, another is the truthfulness and sensitivity with which it depicts ordinary life * Christina Koning, The Times * 'Lily walks between loneliness and defiance, wretchedness and quiet triumph; it's a delicate line and Lily's creator Jill Dawson achieves it with style, humour and honesty' Roddy Doyle 'A compelling drama, full of subtle observation and wry humour, which engages the reader's symapthies. One of the reasons for the book's success is its likeable central character, another is the truthfulness and sensitivity with which it depicts ordinary life' Christina Koning in The Times A beautifully evocative novel about loneliness, friendship and love. Seldom has inner-city London been depicted with such passion, and peopled with such a disparate array of characters, all of whom remain totally convincing and linger in the memory long after the final page * Caryl Phillips * 'A cracking page-turner of a novel, written with consumate skill and feeling. This wholly contemporary story of love and survival in the city is free of cliche and full of surprises'' Judy Cooke in the Mail on Sunday Lily walks between loneliness and defiance, wretchedness and quiet triumph; it's a delicate line and Jill Dawson achieves it with style, humour and honesty * Roddy Doyle * 'This is an enjoyable novel; its brisk prose infused by Dawson's warmth and sympathy for her well-observed characters' Edward Platt in the Sunday Times A cracking page-turner of a novel, written with consummate skill and feeling. This wholly contemporary story of love and survival in the city is free of cliche and full of surprises * Judy Cooke, Mail on Sunday * 'I loved it ... It's a novel very much of its time and that's what drew me to it so closely - if someone who understands doesn't write about Lily and those like her how will their voice ever be heard? And that's why I love contemporary fiction of this calibre - it tells me how it is' Margaret Forster A compelling drama, full of subtle observation and wry humour * The Times *

About this edition

• Publisher: Sceptre
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 034065385X
• ISBN 13: 9780340653852
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240