The Clothes On Their Backs
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
In a red brick mansion block off the Marylebone Road, Vivien, a sensitive, bookish girl grows up sealed off from both past and present by her timid refugee parents. Then one morning a glamorous uncle appears, dressed in a mohair suit, with a diamond watch on his wrist and a girl in a leopard-skin hat on his arm. Why is Uncle Sándor so violently unwelcome in her parents' home?
This is a novel about survival - both banal and heroic - and a young woman who discovers the complications, even betrayals, that inevitably accompany the fierce desire to live.
Set against the backdrop of a London from the 1950s to the present day, The Clothes on Their Backs is a wise and tender novel about the clothes we choose to wear, the personalities we dress ourselves in, and about how they define us all.
In a red brick mansion block off the Marylebone Road, Vivien, a sensitive, bookish girl grows up sealed off from both past and present by her timid refugee parents. Then one morning a glamorous uncle appears, dressed in a mohair suit, with a diamond watch on his wrist and a girl in a leopard-skin hat on his arm. Why is Uncle Sándor so violently unwelcome in her parents' home?
This is a novel about survival - both banal and heroic - and a young woman who discovers the complications, even betrayals, that inevitably accompany the fierce desire to live.
Set against the backdrop of a London from the 1950s to the present day, The Clothes on Their Backs is a wise and tender novel about the clothes we choose to wear, the personalities we dress ourselves in, and about how they define us all.
Not available for shipping to the following countries:
- ASM
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- HND
- MEX
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- VIR
- Published: Apr 02 2009
- Pages: 304
- 196 x 128mm
- ISBN: 9781844085422
Press Reviews
- SUNDAY EXPRESS
** 'If you read only one novel this year, make sure it is The Clothes on Their Backs
- EXPRESS
** 'A beautifully written and truly moving book about the experience of growing up in Britain as a second generation immigrant
- LONDON PAPER
** 'It's a sublimely atmospheric and moving novel
- THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
** 'This is a vivid, enjoyable and consistently unexpected novel