Mother Tongue - Softcover

Mayhew, Julie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 147140594X ISBN 13: 9781471405945

Publisher: Hot Key Books, 2016

Synopsis

After a terrorist attack shatters her family, 18-yr-old Darya Ivanova explores her new identity.

Darya is a young woman trying to recover her life after a brutal terrorist attack shakes her rural Russian hometown, killing her young sister. Her father wants her married off to one of his factory employees and her mother has resurfaced as the matriarch of their family, displacing Darya and even blaming her for Nika's death. But the attack has drawn foreigners to their community, reporters and aid workers who open Darya's eyes to the world. When she falls for a older man, a journalist from New York, could he be her ticket out of her hometown, her old life and her grief?

A stunning story about finding your voice in the aftermath of tragedy, from acclaimed author Julie Mayhew.

About this title

Review:

Mayhew's most ambitious book to date Source: The Sunday Telegraph (Living)

This is a more ambitious book than Mayhew's previous novels... Chekhov for the terror age Author: Emily Bearn Source: The Daily Telegraph (Review)

Where The Big Lie had you calling for revolution, Mother Tongue leaves you at lot more introspective, asking questions of how to define identity, home, and grief. Mayhew is a brilliant author, and I can't wait to see what comes next Source: Ruth Lily Writes

It's a beautiful story, about a world many of us will hopefully never come to know, but a venture all us have to go through, told in almost lyrical tones, that will leave you with a vice gripping your stomach, caring for a girl in a world very similar, but in many ways, very different, to your own Source: Something Like Lydia

Although it's classed as a young adult book, it's very much a universal story, dealing with love, identity and loss. You must read it Source: Berkhamstead Living

It's heartbreaking and affirming all at the same time, agonising and engaging, and a cracking good read. Source: Muddy Stilettos

Mother Tongue is a book that leaves you thinking about it long after you've finished reading it Source: Newbooks Magazine

Filled with references to Russian literature, culture and folklore, Mother Tongue is an evocative and troubling read, with a thought-provoking afterword about Mayhew's scruples in tackling a subject as tragic as Beslan in fiction Source: Financial Times (Life and Arts)

Mother Tongue is ultimately about grief, hope and love. It's about how on earth you survive when the worst happens, about how you can possibly find hope when humanity has displayed its most evil and terrible nature. It's about not being defined by the awful things that can happen, and about finding yourself amidst the debris of life. And it's a story that stays with you long after you finish reading Author: Victoria Dilly Source: Reading Zone

As always her writing is beautiful, and the characters intricately drawn so you're really pulled into Darya's world and all the problems that come with it. And as always, although it's classed as a young adult book, it's very much a universal story, dealing with love, identity and loss. You must read it Source: Berkhamsted Living,

From the Author:

Julie Mayhew is the author of Red Ink (shortlisted for the 2014 Branford Boase Award), The Big Lie (winner of the 2016 Sidewise Award for Alternate History) and the critically acclaimed Mother Tongue. She also writes for the stage and for film, and has been twice nominated for Best Original Drama at the BBC Audio Drama Awards for her radio plays -including a 2016 recognition for the The Electrical Venus, the drama on which this book is based. Julie grew up in Peterborough and originally trained as a journalist, then as an actress, before turning to writing because she couldn't find enough brilliant roles for girls.
www.juliemayhew.co.uk
Twitter: @juliemayhew
Instagram: JulieMayhew

About this edition

• Publisher: Hot Key Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 147140594X
• ISBN 13: 9781471405945
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304