Unexpected Lessons in Love - Softcover

Bernardine Bishop

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848547846 ISBN 13: 9781848547841

Publisher: John Murray, 2013

Synopsis

Unexpected Lessons in Love

About this title

About the Author:

The great-granddaughter of the poet Alice Meynell, Bernardine Bishop was the youngest witness in the Lady Chatterley trial in 1960. After writing two early novels, she taught in a London comprehensive school for ten years and then had a distinguished career as a psychotherapist, during which she brought up her two sons. Cancer forced her retirement in 2010 and she returned to her first love, fiction. Bernardine Bishop lived in London with her husband, until her death in July 2013.

Review:

A tender and acerbically witty tale of two women who survive cancer and become friends * Sunday Mirror * This . . . novel, written in illness, is full of vitality and happiness - a sort of miracle -- Margaret Drabble * Guardian Blog * Considered and reflective, humorous and entertaing, this is a surprising and moving novel * Good Book Guide * Full of humour, kindness and gentle irony, this is a richly satisfying read * Sunday Mirror * It's impossible to recommend the late Bernardine Bishop's wondrous book too highly . . . You will not be so afraid of cancer after reading this book * Guardian * A warm and emotionally convincing novel . . . a cut above the rest, in a plot that connects madness, cats, extreme selfish behaviour and unwanted babies * Sunday Times * Bishop wanders rich fictional ground * Times Literary Supplement * Effortlessly graceful writing * Sunday Times * 'This is the sort of story which grabs you, pulls you in and won't let you go - but in a very gentle way. The characters are superb. It's wise and it's witty. It's sublimely well-written, not with flowery literary devices but in the sort of prose that leaves you surprised when you realise that you've read a hundred pages and you've no intention of giving up just yet. On a cold winter's day I was left with a warm glow when I finished reading' * Bookbag * 'This is a vibrant and even welcoming novel . . . it offers such a rich range of pleasures' * Observer * 'This novel should appeal to Joanna Trollope fans . . . Bishop is a fine, intelligent writer, capable of handling moral and philosophical themes with a light touch' * Sunday Telegraph * 'A wonderful novel, one of those rare books which leaves the reader with a deeper understanding of the human heart . . . This is an author of exceptional intelligence, subtlety and warmth. Expect to hear the name Bernardine Bishop when the lists for the Costa and Man Booker prizes are compiled later this year' * Spectator * This novel, wise, sharp and startlingly frank, distils a lifetime of reflection on the rules of attraction, affection - and family life. From confused youth to the ordeals and confusions of old age, her wry insights delight' * Independent * 'Bishop treats a fearful subject with an extraordinary lightness of touch; her humour and her emotional wisdom make this a delightful and humane novel' * The Times * 'A charming, playful novel' * Red * 'A refreshingly candid, unexpectedly witty and ultimately moving tale' * Candis, Jan 2013 * 'A remarkable, immensely readable and warm-hearted book' * Sunday Express * 'This is one of the most enjoyable books I've read in years. I found it completely gripping. The carefully but unobtrusively structured plot (involving adoption, DNA and paternity) is domestic but with a wide reach; it is played out against a backdrop of world events. On reflection, I have never before read a book which confronts a serious and almost unmentionable illness with such lightness of touch. It's happy and it's cheering, with a beautiful warmth to it, achieved without a moment of sentimentality. I loved it' * Margaret Drabble *

About this edition

• Publisher: John Murray
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1848547846
• ISBN 13: 9781848547841
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 378