Part of the Furniture - Softcover

Wesley, Mary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140266283 ISBN 13: 9780140266283

Publisher: Penguin, 1998

Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Juno Marlowe - pretty, but diffident and awkward - is caught in a World War II air raid as she crosses London after seeing off to the front the two shallow young men she has worshiped like a puppy for years. Sheltered overnight by an ailing stranger, she is launched by his sudden death - and the letter he charges her to deliver to his father - into an unlooked-for but defiant journey. Finding herself embraced without question by his eccentric family, Juno begins to blossom under the watchful gaze of the estate's reclusive owner, Robert Copplestone. A once-charming, robust man who has been shattered by the loss of his wife and, now, the death of his son, Robert is immediately drawn to Juno's wounded but unflappable self. Gradually and almost against his will, he learns to love again and patiently waits for Juno to shed a childish love for those who did not love her back. In the blacked-out English countryside, an eccentric farm family and an idyllic spring transform Juno's slighted, wounded existence into strength and joy and, above all, a life as more than just a part of the furniture.

About this title

Review:

"A novel whose freshness of tone, energy of plotting and sweet nature make it exceptional by any standards" (Sunday Telegraph)

"Few novelists offer such a rich concoction of amoral spice and cleverness; but to judge her work exclusively on this level is to miss more subtle rewards" (Mail on Sunday)

"With its brilliant final twist, this is Mary Wesley's best yet" (Evening Standard)

Book Description:

'A real treat. A warm, witty, lively book' - Val Hennessy, Daily Mail

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0140266283
• ISBN 13: 9780140266283
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256