Description
Book SynopsisVanessa Nicolson is the granddaughter of Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. She was born to an illustrious name and an unhappy marriage. Her father, the art historian Ben Nicolson, was homosexual and his marriage to Vanessa's Italian mother fell apart when Vanessa was very young. In this powerful and meditative memoir she chronicles her disjointed childhood and reckless youth, including holidays at Sissinghurst Castle with her cousins, and her experience of a liberal English boarding school. Interlinked with her story is that of her daughter Rosa, who died, aged 19. This book is a meditation on the threads of love and loss that weave through a life and an examination of the meaning of cultural privilege in the context of emotional deprivation.
Trade ReviewA brutal, frank, and bittersweet memoir of poverty amid privilege -- Peter Stothard, author * Alexandria *
Beautiful and honest -- Victoria Hislop, ‘Summer Read’ * Women & Home *
Vivid and sometimes painfully honest... She has taken the base and battered metal of her life and turned it into gold * Mail on Sunday *
A collection of fragile fragments, handled with care * Daily Telegraph *
[A] heartbreaking memoir -- ‘Books of 2015’ * Sunday Express *
Full of vigorous humour and sharp social comment -- Charlotte Moore, Books of the Year * New Statesman *
Nicolson is a startlingly skilful writer and can wring bleak comedy from the unlikeliest of material... This level of honesty lifts the book into a league of its own: the enduring feeling, however, is of the author's own dogged inner vitality -- Claire Harman * Evening Standard *
Poignant... While there are harrowing aspects to Vanessa's story they are leavened by an atmospheric account of a life that was privileged in some ways, underprivileged in others but [...] always fascinating -- Charlotte Heathcote * Daily Express *
You finish this beautifully written, highly affecting memoir feeling that Vanessa Nicolson hasn't always been good, but wishing above all else that her mother could open her handbag now and, finally, give her the gift of love -- Marcus Field * Independent *
A searing and uncomfortable book... beautifully written -- Vanessa Berridge * Sunday Express *
A book of unflinching honesty, full of wisdom and rare courage -- Virginia Nicholson, author * Millions Like Us *
In recording her own roles as both daughter and mother, Nicolson has penned a double helix to motherhood. It accounts for the many shades of experience that shouldn't be, but so frequently are, endured in families, irrelevant of privilege -- Rebecca Swirsky * Observer *
Set in the context of a perennially fascinating family, it's also a powerful meditation on cultural privilege in an environment of emotional deprivation. Engrossing -- Caroline Sanderson ‘Editor’s Choice’ * Bookseller *
Moving * Good Housekeeping *
An intriguing family history done with acute insight and rueful humour -- Iain Finlayson * Sage Magazine *
Nicolson writes with rare and painful honesty about her unhappy childhood, her many mistakes, and the tragic death of her daughter -- Simon Shaw * Mail on Sunday *
An admirably frank autobiography, told with feeling -- Lesley McDowell * Independent on Sunday *
