A Long Way From Verona
By (Author) Jane Gardam
Little, Brown Book Group
Abacus
1st July 2009
7th May 2009
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
823.914
Paperback
256
Width 126mm, Height 198mm, Spine 22mm
180g
'I ought to tell you at the beginning that I am not quite normal having had a violent experience at the age of nine'
Jessica Vye's 'violent experience' colours her schooldays and her reaction to the world around her- a confining world of Order Marks, wartime restrictions, viyella dresses, nicely-restrained essays and dusty tea shops. For Jessica she has been told that she is 'beyond all possible doubt', a born writer. With her inability to conform, her absolute compulsion to tell the truth and her dedication to accurately noting her experiences, she knows this anyway. But what she doesn't know is that the experiences that sustain and enrich her burgeoning talent will one day lead to a new- and entirely unexpected- reality.Jane Gardam has been awarded the Heywood Hill Literary Prize for a lifetime's contribution to the enjoyment of literature; has twice won a Whitbread Award and has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize. She was awarded an OBE in January 2009.