Monday, November 12, 2012

Pg. 69: Susie Boyt's "The Small Hours"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Small Hours by Susie Boyt.

About the book, from the publisher:
Harriet Mansfield, brave, wry and handsome, is determined to triumph no matter what. With a decade of therapy under her belt and a new large inheritance, it seems there is nothing she cannot achieve.

So she decides to open the school of her dreams. To her precious little girls, rich in everything but care, she vows to provide the happiest childhoods in the world. For everyone knows that early years passed in delightful ways can set you up for life.

But can this ambitious new departure spill some retrospective sweetness onto Harriet's own harsh beginnings, or better still cancel them out altogether? Will the family she's estranged from ever grant her the recognition she craves?

Written with deep psychological insight and coal-black humour The Small Hours is a stunning meditation on love, self-love and forgiveness, and their shadowy opposites.
Learn more about the book and author at Susie Boyt's website.

Boyt is the author of four previous acclaimed novels and a memoir, My Judy Garland Life, which was serialised on Radio 4 and will be staged at the Nottingham Playhouse in spring 2013. Since 2002 she has written a weekly column about art and life for the Financial Times. She lives in London with her family.

The Page 99 Test: My Judy Garland Life.

The Page 69 Test: The Small Hours.

--Marshal Zeringue