Synopses & Reviews
When Polly Flint was six she was sent to live with her two holy aunts in a yellow house close to the Irish Sea. To the lonely orphan this bleak coast of England was so isolated she might well have been marooned on an island. For Polly the world of books — especially Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe with whose hero she will conduct a lifelong dialogue — became a source of emotional and intellectual nourishment. For her, the worlds of imagination and reality had only a thin divide between them, with the former taking the place of religion in her life.
As Polly says about Crusoe: "He didn't go mad. He was brave. Stuck. Imprisoned. The only way to survive is to say it's God's will." And on that barren strip of land Polly remained for more than eighty years as the twentieth century raged; lamplight and Victorian order becoming chaos and nuclear dread. Crusoe's Daughter, wholly original, memorable and deeply satisfying, is her story.
Synopsis
Six-year-old Polly Flint is sent to live with her two pious aunts in a yellow house close to the Irish Sea. To the lonely orphan, this bleak coast of England is so isolated she might as well be marooned on an island. The world of books-especially Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe, with whose hero she will conduct a lifelong dialogue-becomes her source of emotional and intellectual nourishment. Soon the worlds of imagination and reality have only a thin divide between them.
On that barren strip of land Polly remained for more than eighty years as the twentieth century raged; lamplight and Victorian order giving way to chaos and nuclear dread. Crusoe's Daughter-wholly original, memorable, and deeply satisfying-is Polly's story, and, in part, it is also Jane Gardam's.
Synopsis
From the award-winning author of Old Filth. " A] wonderfully old-fashioned novel . . . This post-Victorian charmer is an engrossing delight" (People).
In 1904, six-year-old Polly Flint is sent by her sea captain father to live with her aunts in a house by the sea on England's northeast coast. Orphaned shortly thereafter, Polly will spend the next eighty years stranded in this quiet corner of the world as the twentieth century rages in the background. Through it all, Polly returns again and again to the story of Robinson Crusoe, who, marooned like her, fends off the madness of isolation with imagination. In The Guardian's series on writers and readers' favorite comfort books, associate editor Claire Armitstead said of Crusoe's Daughter, "This is the most bookish of books . . . Every time I return to it, I am comforted by its refusal to conform, its wonderful, boisterous bolshiness, and the intelligence with which it demonstrates that we are what we read."
"Witty, subversive, moving."--The Times (London)
" A] richly textured novel . . . much occurs on the emotional landscape. We know Polly intimately, and she haunts our imaginations as surely as Crusoe haunts hers . . . a thought-provoking book."--Library Journal
" The] most seductively entertaining of British novelists."--Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
In 1904, six-year-old Polly Flint is sent to live with her aunt’s in a house by the sea. Orphaned shortly thereafter, Polly will spend the next eighty years stranded in this quiet corner of the world as 20th century rages in the background. Throughout it all Polly returns again and again to the story of Robinson Crusoe, who, marooned like her, fends off the madness of isolation with imagination. Like previous Gardam titles will skew to female readers and Anglophiles. An ideal choice for book clubs.
About the Author
Jane Gardam has twice won the Whitbread Award, for The Hollow Land, and Queen of the Tambourine. She is also the author of God on the Rocks, which was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and most recently, Faith Fox.