{"product_id":"the-hand-that-first-held-mine-a-novel-isbn-9780547423180","title":"The Hand That First Held Mine: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the best-selling author of \u003cem\u003eHamnet\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Marriage Portrait\u003c\/em\u003e comes a spellbinding novel of two women connected across fifty years by art, love, betrayals, secrets, and motherhood.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"An exquisitely sensual tale of love, motherhood, and other forms of madness, \u003cem\u003eThe Hand That First Held Mine\u003c\/em\u003e will unsettle, move, and haunt you.\" —Emma Donoghue, author of \u003cem\u003eRoom\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLexie Sinclair is plotting an extraordinary life for herself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHedged in by her parents' genteel country life, she plans her escape to London. There, she takes up with Innes Kent, a magazine editor who introduces her to the thrilling, underground world of bohemian, post-war Soho. She learns to be a reporter, to know art and artists, to embrace her life fully and with a deep love at the center of it. And when she finds herself pregnant, she doesn't hesitate to have the baby on her own.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLater, in present-day London, a young painter named Elina dizzily navigates the first weeks of motherhood. She doesn't recognize herself: she finds herself walking outside with no shoes; she goes to the restaurant for lunch at nine in the morning; she can't recall the small matter of giving birth. But for her boyfriend, Ted, fatherhood is calling up lost memories, with images he cannot place.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs Ted's memories become more disconcerting and more frequent, it seems that something might connect these two stories—these two women—something that becomes all the more heartbreaking and beautiful as they all hurtle toward its revelation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraised by \u003cem\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/em\u003e as a “breathtaking, heart-breaking creation,” \u003cem\u003eThe Hand That First Held Mine\u003c\/em\u003e is a gorgeous and tenderly wrought story about the ways in which love and beauty bind us together. It is a gorgeous inquiry into the ways we make and unmake our lives, who we know ourselves to be, and how even our most accidental legacies connect us.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"O’Farrell brings to mind Sue Miller but with a British and darker flavor; her sure hand for psychological suspense . . . continues to be most impressive.\" \u003cem\u003e—Library Journal\u003c\/em\u003e      \"Maggie O’Farrell’s cinematically vivid novel is moody and powerful and plotted at a breakneck pace. This book, like life, will disarm you with its unannounced twists and tragedies and moments of unexpected beauty. She delivers to readers that rarest of experiences—total emotional investment. Hers is a brilliant feat of prose marksmanship—also, it made me cry on the subway.\" —Heidi Julavits, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Effect of Living Backwards \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eThe Uses of Enchantment \u003c\/em\u003e     \"Maggie O’Farrell knows how to weave a bewitching tale, both thrilling and poetic. The Hand That First Held Mine will no doubt enrapture you, just as it has me.\" —Tatiana de Rosnay, author of \u003cem\u003eSarah’s Key\u003c\/em\u003e    \"An exquisitely sensual tale of love, motherhood, and other forms of madness, \u003cem\u003eThe Hand That First Held Mine\u003c\/em\u003e will unsettle, move, and haunt you.\" —Emma Donoghue, author of \u003cem\u003eSlammerkin\u003c\/em\u003e    \"Maggie O’Farrell deftly depicts the long-after shocks of death, betrayal, and life-changing love as her richly complicated characters play out an immensely satisfying plot. \u003cem\u003eThe Hand That First Held Mine\u003c\/em\u003e is a dazzling and absorbing novel.\" —Margot Livesey, author of \u003cem\u003eThe House on Fortune Street \u003c\/em\u003e     \"Maggie O’Farrell is an uncommonly perceptive writer, and \u003cem\u003eThe Hand That First Held Mine\u003c\/em\u003e is an unforgettable story of family, ambition, and love. I couldn’t stop thinking about it long after I read the final page.\" —Lauren Grodstein, author of \u003cem\u003eA Friend of the Family \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mariner Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44890137821413,"sku":"NP9780547423180","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780547423180.jpg?v=1730232606","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-hand-that-first-held-mine-a-novel-isbn-9780547423180","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}