Winner of the Costa Novel Award 2010.

Costa Book Awards 2010 Judges' comment: "A powerful story full of dynamic characters, crafted with panache and lyricism."

Shortlisted for the Galaxy UK Author of the Year 2010.

Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 20 May 2010.

May 2010 Good Housekeeping selection.

The fifth book from the award-winning author of After You’d Gone is another delight, weaving
together the stories of two women who have never met but whose destinies are linked by
secrets, deception and love. Maggie’s skill is to draw the reader into her characters’ lives, while

gradually revealing the relationship that binds them. A compelling portrait of motherhood.

July 2010 Guest Editor Louise Candlish on Maggie O'Farrell...

O’Farrell is an author I’ve come to quite late and have therefore read in the wrong order. This is her newest and most stylish; the writing is spun gold. I love the character of Lexie Sinclair: the way she approaches motherhood, the way she runs her career, the way she treats her men. It’s terribly sad, too, and made me cry.

Win a luxury craft weekend break on Dartmoor

Dartmoor.co.uk has teamed up with Lovereading to offer one lucky winner the chance to win a prize package of accommodation for 2 at Lurcombe luxury apartments during the Contemporary Craft Festival in Bovey Tracey on June 7–9th, including day tickets to attend the festival itself plus Dinner for two (including a bottle of wine) in one of our leading gastro pubs the Rock Inn and a delicious lunch for two at Home Farm Café set in the scenic grounds of the National Trust Estate at Parke in Bovey Tracey.

Please note that this draw is open only for UK residents and is free to enter. Draw closes on 27 May 2013. The winner will be chosen randomly from all entrants.The winners will be notified by 1 June 2013. The decision of the judges is final. By providing us with your contact details when you enter the competition you are agreeing to future contact from Dartmoor.co.uk and it's selected partners.

Please CLICK HERE to see the specific terms and conditions linked to the prize.

Synopsis

A gorgeously written story of love and motherhood, this is a tour de force from one of our most acclaimed and best loved novelists. When the bohemian, sophisticated Innes Kent turns up by chance on her doorstep, Lexie Sinclair realises she cannot wait any longer for her life to begin, and leaves for London. There, at the heart of the 1950s Soho art scene, she carves out a new life for herself, with Innes at her side. In the present day, Elina and Ted are reeling from the difficult birth of their first child. Elina, a painter, struggles to reconcile the demands of motherhood with sense of herself as an artist, and Ted is disturbed by memories of his own childhood, memories that don't tally with his parents' version of events. As Ted begins to search for answers, so an extraordinary portrait of two women is revealed, separated by fifty years, but connected in ways that neither could ever have expected.

About the Author

Maggie O'Farrell is the author of five novels: After You'd Gone, My Lover's Lover, The Distance Between Us, which won a Somerset Maugham Award, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox and The Hand That First Held Mine which won the Costa Novel Award 2010. Born in Northern Ireland, Maggie grew up in Wales and Scotland. She lives in London with her husband and two children. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation