Written by 15-year old Mary in her dungeon awaiting the gallows in the 1830s, with a secret she cannot tell - this is an amazing book. Her country, semi-literate voice is highly compelling, forcing you to race through the slim (only 170 pages), highly eventful book which covers only one year. From rural hardship to caring for the vicar's invalid wife, Mary's life seems to blossom until the vicar imposes his charms! Mary is doomed and she knows it. She also know she could save herself but at too high a price. Written entirely in lower case which somehow adds power, this is a remarkable read. The Colour of Milk is the colour of Mary's hair, poor girl.
A 'Piece of Passion' from Juliet Annan, Publisher Fig Tree/Penguin...
'The Colour of Milk is a dark, perfectly shaped little gem of a novel. Set in rural England in the 1830s, it is beautiful, disturbing and brutal – and it really packs a punch. It's told from the point of view and in the voice of an illiterate farm girl in 1830: Mary, the girl in question, is telling her own story and, what’s more, she is writing it down with her own hand. How it came about that she can read and write, and what price she had to pay to achieve this is very much at the core of the novel. I absolutely love this book: it is immensely powerful and Mary's voice is totally convincing and everyone who reads it is blown away by the sheer power and force and beauty of Nell's writing, and by Mary's dramatic story. The ending is wonderful, and shocking, but I won't give it away...'
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
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The Colour of Milk is the new novel by Orange longlisted author and playwright Nell Leyshon. 'This is my book and i am writing it by my own hand'. The year is eighteen hundred and thirty one when fifteen-year-old Mary begins the difficult task of telling her story. A scrap of a thing with a sharp tongue and hair the colour of milk, Mary leads a harsh life working on her father's farm alongside her three sisters. In the summer she is sent to work for the local vicar's invalid wife, where the reasons why she must record the truth of what happens to her - and the need to record it so urgently - are gradually revealed.
The Colour of Milk features in the following genres: Historical Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, eBooks of the Month, Fiction, General Fiction, Recommendations
The Colour of Milk is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Colour of Milk was written by Nell Leyshon and published by Penguin Books Ltd
The Colour of Milk has 171 pages
£12.59
