A Grain Of Truth

Nina Bawden

Nov 2011 · Vmc Series Ibhuku elingu-27 · Virago

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'This is the off-side of lust in plush suburbia, described by a crypto-moralist with a mischievous sense of humour' SUNDAY TIMES

'A born story-teller' INDEPENDENT

'The modest and moderating virtues of Nina Bawden's novels can easily be demonstrated by her earlier title, The Grain of Truth' KIRKUS REVIEWS

Emma's anxious and manipulative plea, 'Someone listen to me', opens - and closes - this deliciously uncomfortable novel in which Nina Bawden explores myriad emotional disguises with her characteristic acuity. When Emma's father-in-law falls down the stairs to his death, she is convinced she pushed him in an act of wish-fulfilment. To her husband Henry and her close friend Holly, this is unthinkable. Guilt is simply Emma's obsession in a humdrum domestic existence enlivened by romantic fantasy. For Holly, who successfully fields a string of love affairs, sexual pleasures are more easily attainable, whereas Henry, a Divorce lawyer, prides himself on being a realist. Each tells their story in turn, illuminating and distorting their separate versions of the truth. As they do so, an intricate jigsaw of the private deceits with which they shore up everyday life emerges.

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Nina Bawden (1925-2012), CBE, was one of Britain's most distinguished and best-loved novelists, both for adults and children (Peppermint Pig and Carrie's War being among her most famous books for young people). She has published over forty novels and an autobiography, In My Own Time. She was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Circles of Deceit and her novel Family Money was filmed by Channel 4, starring Claire Boom and June Whitfield. In 2004 she received the S. T. Dupont Golden Pen Award for a Lifetime's Contribution to Literature.