It is March 30th 1924.
It is Mothering Sunday.
How will Jane Fairchild, orphan and housemaid, occupy her time when she has no mother to visit? How, shaped by the events of this never to be forgotten day, will her future unfold?
Beginning with an intimate assignation and opening to embrace decades, Mothering Sunday has at its heart both the story of a life and the life that stories can magically contain. Constantly
surprising, joyously sensual and deeply moving, it is Graham Swift at his thrilling best.
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[Once upon a time, before the boys were killed and when there were more horses than cars, before the male servants disappeared and they made do, at Upleigh and at Beechwood, with just a cook and a maid, the Sheringhams had owned not just four horses in their own stable, but what might be called a 'real horse', a racehorse, a thoroughbred]***
(Scribner, 1 March 2016, 132 pages, hardback, borrowed from @GlasgowLib)
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I'd heard of the author before but never read his work. I decided to read this on impulse when browsing the Quick Reads section in the library. I wasn't sure what to expect considering A ROMANCE is printed on the cover in white print. I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed this. This is not w traditional romance book or anything like it. The short little book is devastating at times, exploring grief, loss, motherless children and childless mothers. There are so many emotions at play here and across such a short expanse of time. Impressive.
