How it was
How it was by Janet Ellis is a novel published by Two Roads in 2019, featuring 431 pages in English. The story centers on Marion Deacon, who reflects on her life while sitting by the hospital bed of her dying husband, Michael. As an unremarkable old woman, Marion grapples with her concealed history and emotions, haunted by memories from nearly forty years prior. Set against the backdrop of the 1970s, the narrative explores the complexities of family life and the impact of societal changes on personal relationships.
Readers will find a poignant exploration of the mother-daughter dynamic, particularly as Marion confronts her feelings of inadequacy while reading her teenage daughter’s diary. The novel delves into themes of family and relationships, revealing the heart-wrenching consequences of Marion’s actions as she navigates her regrets and desires. Janet Ellis’s writing captures the intricate emotions tied to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, making this edition a thoughtful reflection on the challenges of familial bonds.
Official synopsis Publisher
‘IMMERSIVE, AMAZING, REMARKABLE’ MARIAN KEYES ‘WONDERFUL’ EMMA KENNEDY
‘JANET ELLIS WRITES WITH TENDERNESS AND WISDOM’ ERIN KELLY
‘AN ATMOSPHERIC, CLEVER NOVEL THAT WILL GET UNDER YOUR SKIN’ RED
Marion Deacon sits by the hospital bed of her dying husband, Michael. Outwardly she is, as she says, an unremarkable old woman. She has long concealed her history – and her feelings – from the casual observer. But as she sits by Michael’s bed, she’s haunted by memories from almost forty years ago . . .
Marion Deacon is a wife and mother, and not particularly good at being either. It’s the 1970s and in her small village the Swinging 60s, the wave of feminism, the prospect of an exciting life, have all swerved past her. Reading her teenage daughter’s diary, it seems that Sarah is on the threshold of getting everything her mother Marion was denied, and Marion cannot bear it – what she does next has terrible and heart-breaking consequences for the whole family.
Janet Ellis writes of the exquisite pain of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the complexity of family and a mother-daughter relationship that is as memorable as it is utterly believable.
‘ELLIS WRITES BEAUTIFULLY’ DAILY MAIL ‘AN EMOTIONAL EPIC’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING ‘AFFECTING, ENGAGING AND READABLE’ OBSERVER ‘A TALE OF SILENCES, SECRETS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS’ MAIL ON SUNDAY ‘ENGROSSING’ MIRROR
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