The Unknown Bridesmaid - Hardcover

Forster, Margaret

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0701188057 ISBN 13: 9780701188054

Publisher: Chatto & Windus, 2013

Synopsis

When Julia was eight, she was asked to be a bridesmaid at her beautiful cousin Iris’s wedding. Her mother saw this as a chore – expensive, inconvenient – but Julia was thrilled. When the time came, even the fact that her bridesmaid’s dress didn’t fit, and was plain cream rather than the pink she’d hoped for, couldn’t ruin the day. But after this, things began to go wrong for Julia, starting with an episode involving her cousin’s baby, a pram and a secret trip round the block.

A lifetime later, Julia is a child psychologist who every day deals with young girls said to be behaving badly. Some are stealing, some are running away from home, some are terribly untidy, some won’t eat or get out of bed. Julia has a special knack with these girls. She understands which really are troubled, and which are at the mercy of the way they are seen by the adults around them.

But one day, Julia’s own troubled past starts to creep into her present. And as she struggles to understand her childhood self, she must confront the possibility that the truth may not be as devastating as she feared.

About this title

Product Description:

The Unknown Bridesmaid When Julia was eight, she was asked to be a bridesmaid at her beautiful cousin Iris' wedding. Her mother saw this as a chore - expensive, inconvenient - but Julia was thrilled. When the time came, even the fact that her bridesmaid's dress didn't fit, and was plain cream rather than the pink she'd hoped for, couldn't ruin the day. Full description

Review:

"Remarkable...disturbing...fascinating" Independent "Nobody is better than Margaret Forster, with her clear calm prose, at delineating the fault lines of the ordinary, unexceptional and hidden lives" -- Jennifer Selway Daily Express "a mesmerizing, unsettling novel" New York Times "Makes such uncomfortable reading that at times you can barely turn the page, but it's so compelling that you have to" Mail on Sunday "Perfectly paced and with superbly drawn characters, this is a compelling story skilfully told" Choice "Margaret Forster is a brilliant and prolific writer... her latest novel is one of her best... It's a gripping read" Observer "There is no one to match [Forster] for the way her assured,subtle and careful prose can detail the insecurities, torments and problems of what are, to all surface appearances, just nondescript, unremarkable and often half-lived lives" The Lady "Margaret Forster has a deft and idiosyncratic touch" -- Penelope Lively Spectator "A story which becomes steadily more gripping" WI Magazine "A brilliantly uncomfortable read about the art of forgetfulness" -- Emma Hagestadt Independent

About this edition

• Publisher: Chatto & Windus
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0701188057
• ISBN 13: 9780701188054
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240