{"product_id":"the-dark-circle-9780349006789","title":"The Dark Circle","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eShortlisted for the Baileys Women''s Prize for Fiction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Extraordinarily affecting'' Alex Preston, \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''This is a novel whose engine is flesh and blood, not cold ideas . . . Grant brings the 1950s - that odd, downbeat, fertile decade between war and sexual liberation - into sharp, bright, heartbreaking focus'' - Christobel Kent \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAll over Britain life is beginning again now the war is over but for Lenny and Miriam, East End London teenage twins who have been living on the edge of the law, life is suspended - they''ve contacted tuberculosis.  It''s away to the sanatorium - newly opened by the NHS - in deepest Kent for them where they will meet a very different world: among other patients, an aristocract, a young university grad, a mysterious German woman and an American merchant seaman with big ideas about love and rebellion. They are not the only ones whose lives will be changed forever.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Grant is so good at\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eExhilaratingly good\u003c\/b\u003e . . . This is a novel whose engine is flesh and blood, not cold ideas . . . Grant brings the 1950s - that odd, downbeat, fertile decade between war and sexual liberation - into\u003cb\u003e sharp, bright, heartbreaking \u003c\/b\u003efocus -- Christobel Kent * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Grant novel is always a treat\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Grant captures the stigma that surrounded TB perfectly * Evening Standard *\u003cbr\u003eA writer whose language \u003cb\u003ecrackles with vitality\u003c\/b\u003e and whose descriptive powers are working at such a high level * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003eLinda Grant brings a forgotten slice of social and medical history to life by conjuring a rich cast of disparate - though equally desperate - characters observed with wry humour and affection to produce an \u003cb\u003eabsorbing and profoundly moving\u003c\/b\u003e story -- John Harding * Daily Mail *\u003cbr\u003eThe novel is funny but also poignant . . .\u003cb\u003e I loved it\u003c\/b\u003e * Stylist *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Dark Circle \u003c\/i\u003eis, beneath its narrative surface, fiercely political. She poses a large, naggingly relevant, question. What would (will?) privatisation of the NHS mean? \u003cb\u003eRead this fine, persuasive, moving novel \u003c\/b\u003eand contemplate - if you can dare to - that awful possibility -- John Sutherland * The Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFascinating\u003c\/b\u003e . . . a revealing insight: both \u003cb\u003efunny and illuminating\u003c\/b\u003e, it is a novel about what it means to treat people well, medically, emotionally and politically -- Hannah Beckerman * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eGrant is so good at conjuring up atmosphere and writes with earthy vivacity -- Anthony Gardner * Mail on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003eContemporary issues linger ominously in Grant's margins, silently enriching what's already an \u003cb\u003eastonishingly good\u003c\/b\u003e period piece -- Lucy Scholes * Independent *\u003cbr\u003eHer cast of characters is nothing less than a portrayal of post-war, class-riven Britain from the indolent aristocracy, to Oxford-educated blue stockings, and from car salesmen to the bottom of the pile, German emigres and East End Jewish lowlifes . . .This is a novel, above all, about trauma caused by the \"dark circle\" of tuberculosis, and results in a \"tight circle\" of comradeship. The ambitious reach of the novel is wisely held in check by its focus on a time when Lenny and Miriam had to discover for themselves what it was to be human * Jewish Chronicle *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA rich, engaging novel\u003c\/b\u003e, further proof that Grant can conjure up a special mood in a specific period with great humour -- Ben Lawrence * Sunday Telegraph *\u003cbr\u003eExtraordinarily affecting -- Alex Preston * Observer *\u003cbr\u003eAn \u003cb\u003eextraordinary \u003c\/b\u003edepiction of the physical and emotional experience of illness. She\u003cb\u003e marvellously \u003c\/b\u003ecommunicates the poignancy of youth and sexuality in the presence of impending death. \u003cb\u003eGrant's voice is unlike any other \u003c\/b\u003ewriter; so immediate and engaged even when writing historical fiction -- Natasha Walter\u003cbr\u003eAn amazing subject, \u003cb\u003ewonderfully depicted\u003c\/b\u003e, with plausible people whom I grew to love . . . the most surprising plot developments. So \u003cb\u003eoriginal and full of life\u003c\/b\u003e -- Joan Bakewell\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Little, Brown Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48733635576151,"sku":"9780349006789","price":9.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780349006789.jpg?v=1720000951","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-dark-circle-9780349006789","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}