An intriguing situation, seamless pacing, a rising sense of menace and a surprise ending bring Dunmore's new novel (after the well-received Talking to the.
Table of contents
Not enough freedom and scope. I think I moved on from that through writing short stories. And I wrote two or three novels for children in which I learned a great deal about narrative construction, drive, structure. She was 41 when her first novel came out. But that was in the late s, and it was absolutely clear in my mind.
Her poetic heritage is evident in that and her other fiction. He comes back with a basket of woven straw, in which nestle four fat, perfectly ripe figs. He gives the basket to Julia.
Their skin is as soft as suede. Julia chooses a fig and breathes in its spicy, sun-warmed fragrance. Bernard produces a bowl of thick yellow cream. Julia dips her fig into the cream, raises it to her mouth, and bites. The luscious, warm, grainy flesh melts into the cool unctuousness of cream.
A writer's life: Helen Dunmore - Telegraph
Years later, Bernard and Julia will never be able to separate the taste of figs from that of one another's lips. I ask if she redrafts much. I like to go over and over it so I can hear it's right. Particularly the dialogue, because there's something about the way people talk that can be very oblique.
After I've done the first draft I give it a bit of time to settle down. I go away and write something quite different, a piece or a poem, because there's a difficulty with being too close to a manuscript: We were just talking about Katherine Mansfield, and I think she's incredibly aware of the weight of words. I'd be very sad to be working only in one medium or the other.
Does she find plot difficult? In a way, character drives plot, because there are some things that a character cannot do, that it would be impossible for them to do, and you realise that when you get to know the character better. On a personal level and a much broader public level. And to me one of the key statements is when Joe, one of the characters, is talking about how millions of people died in the midth century in this paroxysm of murder and loss.
Share this title
He says, 'not only have we not understood those events or come to terms with them, we are still reeling from the blow'. And I think that's right. I think it takes a long time in your individual life and in your broader, national life to come to terms with events. What human beings do first is react. They have to move away from what traumatised them if they are to survive.
Get the best at Telegraph Puzzles. A collection of the best contributions and reports from the Telegraph focussing on the key events, decisions and moments in Churchill's life. This book tells the story of the men and women of Fighter Command who worked tirelessly in air bases scattered throughout Britain to thwart the Nazis. The essential gift book for any pet lover - real-life tales of devoted dogs, rebellious cats and other unforgettable four-legged friends.
A complete edition of John James Audubon's world famous The Birds of America, bound in linen and beautifully presented in a special slipcase. Accessibility links Skip to article Skip to navigation. Monday 17 September Helen Dunmore The poet and novelist tells Marianne Macdonald that stories need strong structures to contain strong emotions. Like Telegraph Books on Facebook. More from the web. More from The Telegraph. Want to Read saving….
Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Your Blue Eyed Boy 3. Simone is 38, a district judge whose husband Donald is on the verge of bankruptcy and breakdown.
Whilst she is at court, passing judgement on the lives of others, Donald stays at home and looks after their two young sons. One morning a letter arrives; someone she has tried to forget has not forgotten her and Simone's private history is about to collide with her public worl Simone is 38, a district judge whose husband Donald is on the verge of bankruptcy and breakdown.
One morning a letter arrives; someone she has tried to forget has not forgotten her and Simone's private history is about to collide with her public world. Paperback , pages. Calvin , Michael , Simone.
See a Problem?
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Your Blue Eyed Boy , please sign up. See 1 question about Your Blue Eyed Boy…. Lists with This Book. Your dreams weren't like dreams. They were another life, rippling under the surface of this one, waiting to recapture you as soon as you dipped beneath the skin of sleep. I've long been a fan of Dunmore but this book, one of her earlier ones, has leapt straight up into prime position as my favourite to date. It's a shimmering, uneasy, shifting narrative that looks like it's heading in one direction before we realise we're somewhere else entirely.
This one really got under my skin leaving me qu Your dreams weren't like dreams. This one really got under my skin leaving me quietly but deeply devastated by the end. Although Dunmore writes marvellously about love, I've never thought of her as a prime writer on sex: Neither coy nor prurient, what she evokes is the visceral corporeality of loving someone physically: Although this is a relatively early book, it looks forwards to ideas and images that re-emerge in later fiction: And that interpenetration of past and present: I'm what you were.
I'm what you think you left behind, but you can't do that. But the stand-out character for me is the fascinating, multi-faceted Michael: Dunmore's prose is, as ever, lyrical, precise, smooth - conjuring emotion effortlessly without laying it all on the surface. A relatively short book but a deeply, deeply affecting one.
Feb 02, Christie rated it really liked it. I read her book With Your Crooked Heart a couple years back. She creates captivating and complicated characters, with interior lives that are filled with wreckage and hope. Your Blue-Eyed Boy is, I think, about ghosts. Simone is a District Judge, married to an unemployed architect, mother to two young sons.
Her story is told by layering all the bits of her life: And then, out of the blue, Simone receives a letter from someone from her past. But Your Blue-Eyed Boy is not as simple as that. This is a novel about reconciling who you are now with who you were when. Feb 24, Komal rated it did not like it Shelves: This is a silly book.
- Handbook of the Biology of Aging (Handbooks of Aging);
- Monkey Love;
- My Childhood.
- Navigate Guide.
- The Southend-on-Sea Quiz Book!
- Truckin’ With Bubba & and I Ain’t Bubba.
- The Loveday Pride (Loveday series, Book 6): Action, adventure and romance in eighteenth-century Corn.
It's about a judge with a husband and kids who gets blackmailed by an ex from college days. Aand that's about it. Call me thick-headed but I don't find a thing about this book profound or thought-provoking. Nor am I a big fan of the way it's written. The lyricism of its lines seems overdone and out of place. The lead character and This is a silly book. The lead character and narrator is also about as lively as a sandbag. She drags herself like a corpse through series of flashbacks and the perils of the present, and suffers some boring blackmail.
Gives accounts of screwing a few guys with smelly armpits. Frets about being blackmailed. Then goes back to regurgitating her bland observations to the readers. View all 5 comments. Mar 10, Rebekah rated it it was amazing Shelves: One heck of a writer! Helen Dunmore's books are darkly beautiful, extremely well-crafted works.
Apr 03, Moore rated it really liked it Shelves: I was really gripped by this book - quietly threatening, keenly observed, and very loving towards the physical world and the physicality of things.
Another review here complains that nothing happens - but actually everything happens - love, sex and death. That's not a spoiler by the way - as she goes on and on about the bog, you can't tell me the sea air wasn't blowing down your collar and telling you to expect a body by the end of the book. I loved the way that everything wasn't obvious - what I was really gripped by this book - quietly threatening, keenly observed, and very loving towards the physical world and the physicality of things.
I loved the way that everything wasn't obvious - what he wanted, how she reacted, what they said to each other - that was very delicate and thoughtful. I loved the way that the central character had memories and reflections that were irrelevant to the plot - like a real person.
It all made the story more real, not less, that the denouement was so stifled. More than anything what I loved was the powerful recollections of the knowledge of bodies, how they smell and taste and fit - and not just of previous lovers, but the marks of her children upon her, and of despair upon her husband. That strong sense of the corporeal is what made the threads of this story work - bringing together bodies from then and now.
And what happens to bodies. And she captures that tension brilliantly with her refrain about wondering whose hand it is on the window that opens it to danger Those heavy body things Helen Dunmore has down a treat, and I didn't know that - I sort of expected to waste a train journey on this and forget it. But actually I found it very moving. Not really like me. Am I going soft in my old age? Jun 25, Matt rated it it was ok. I'd hoped for good things from an awarded novelist, this particular book recommended both by a good friend and ee cummings line serving as the title's base.
I found it heavy-handed, though, poorly plotted, and anytime it showed any lyrical promise, there was a decent chance the lines would reappear in some form or another later in the book.
- [Buffalo Bill 's] by E. E. Cummings | Poetry Foundation!
- Your Blue-Eyed Boy Summary - leondumoulin.nl.
- The Complete Novels of George Eliot.
For instance, variations on the following paragraph appeared at least three times. Blackmail doesn't work the way I always thought it would, if I ever gave it I'd hoped for good things from an awarded novelist, this particular book recommended both by a good friend and ee cummings line serving as the title's base. Blackmail doesn't work the way I always thought it would, if I ever gave it a thought. It doesn't smash through the clean pane of life like a stone through a window. It's always an inside job, the most intimate of crimes.
Somebody in the house has left that window open, a crack. The person who leaves the window open doesn't want to know why. From outside a hand reaches up into the gap, and the window creaks wide. Cold air comes rushing in. I see that hand now, each time I shut my eyes to sleep.
Sometimes it's heavy and alien, the hand of a stranger. I can count the hairs on the knuckles. But on other nights I feel the fingers move and I know they are my own. Talking to the Dead had also been on my to-read list, but after slogging through this, I don't think I'll waste my time. Oct 25, Anne rated it really liked it. OK, so this book was first published in , I'm not sure why I've only just read it, but I took it on holiday this year and really enjoyed the pace of writing.
The story deals with Simone's past, she is presently a judge living in a remote part of England with her husband and sons, the blue-eyed boy of the title is Michael, a boyfriend from years ago who has suddenly re-appeared in her life. Like many of us, Simone did some things in her youth that she would rather forget, that do not fit in wi OK, so this book was first published in , I'm not sure why I've only just read it, but I took it on holiday this year and really enjoyed the pace of writing. Like many of us, Simone did some things in her youth that she would rather forget, that do not fit in with her modern image as a judge and things that she would rather her family did not know about.
This is a really dark but engrossing story. Michael wants Simone to return to their past life - he is obviously mentally disturbed and she is obviously quite scared. A short but intense read that makes the reader consider the wrongs and rights of things that have been done in life. I enjoyed it and will read more of her books. Can I give one and a half stars? I didn't like this book, but I did finish it, so that's something.
Although I have to admit, after about the halfway point, I skimmed it and skipped over all the flashbacks, so I didn't exactly read the whole thing. What I did not like about this book: The premise itself was fine, and interesting even, but the way the main character reacted to the arrival of the man from her past, and just the entire last third of the book, was who Can I give one and a half stars? The premise itself was fine, and interesting even, but the way the main character reacted to the arrival of the man from her past, and just the entire last third of the book, was wholly unbelievable.
About half of the book was in the form of flashbacks, with the woman remembering a summer from 20 years earlier. This made the entire narrative drag too much, and the things that happened that summer weren't even that interesting. Another Dunmore novel I hadn't read. It was very different to others of hers I have read and not as good as most. This novel was tense from the start. I was absorbed in what was going to happen when a man from Simone's past contacts her and sends compromising photos from when they were a couple twenty years before.
Simone is now a district judge in the marshy areas of south-east England so her future is at risk. As readers we are made to think that Michael will blackmail Simone but things work o Another Dunmore novel I hadn't read. As readers we are made to think that Michael will blackmail Simone but things work out rather differently. In this respect I thought the author was rather manipulative.
I wanted to keep reading but often felt disappointed. The ending particularly was over dramatic and not very believable. I do think it could be made into a good movie thriller though. Jun 04, Schuyler Wallace rated it it was ok. Her narrative voice is filled with low-level mewling, almost kittenish in its persistence, as she assumes the blame for all the grievances life has dealt her. Her partner in her earlier transgressions shows up with sordid pictures in his pocket and blackmail on his mind.
It turns out that Michael, the man of her past, is a nut case who decides that Simone, the judge, needs to return to the scene of their frivolity in America Her family, her career, her distance from the girl he once knew have no relevance in his plan. She either returns with him or her sordid past will be revealed to all.
[Buffalo Bill 's]
Michael turns out to be a worse whiner than Simone. When the two are together the keening drowns out the loud wind of the English sea coast. They have a moment of intimacy it seemed gratuitous to me and then roam along the seawall exchanging lamentations in the rain.