{"product_id":"the-valley-9781408831632","title":"The Valley","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Wonderfully evocative ... Not for a heartbeat is there a false or faltering note as various life stories unfurl and conflate, invariably amid hardship and leading to heartbreak'' \u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eThe close-knit villages of the Dearne Valley in Yorkshire were home to four generations of the Hollingworth family. Spanning Richard Benson's great-grandmother Winnie's ninety-two years in the valley, and drawing on years of historical research, interviews and anecdotes, \u003ci\u003eThe Valley\u003c\/i\u003e lets us into generations of carousing and banter as the family's attempts to build a better and fairer world for themselves meet sometimes with triumph, sometimes with bitter defeat. Against a backdrop of underground explosions, strikes and pit closures, these are unflinching, deeply personal stories of battles between the sexes in a man's world sustained by strong women; of growing up, and the power of love and imagination to transform lives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt’s hard to imagine a more compelling account of its generational aftereffects than the one contained here … Profoundly moving … To be allowed to share all of those secrets is, as Benson notes, a privilege for the writer – but it’s a privilege for the reader too. This is social history at its very best * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGQ Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eThe moving history of four generations of one Yorkshire mining family. Through them emerges the story of 20th century working-class England * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWoman \u0026amp; Home\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eThis rare and finely tempered work serves up a devastating combination of memory and imagination ... \u003ci\u003eThe Valley\u003c\/i\u003e is a landmark history * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eThe detail is delivered in a fine poetic rhythm ... Wonderfully evocative ... Not for a heartbeat is there a false or faltering note as various life stories unfurl and conflate, invariably amid hardship and leading to heartbreak * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eCould not be more meticulous or magically intimate if it tried … Exquisite, finely worked texture of petit point ... the reader comes to feel he is holding not a book of social history in his hands, but a fat and vivid novel ... \u003ci\u003eThe Valley\u003c\/i\u003e is a masterpiece of empathy and good writing, and I hope that in months to come it will be on the receiving end of a great deal of reciprocal love * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eBenson captures the hard graft and constant perils of colliery life with cinematic vividness ... For an unvarnished, well-crafted obituary of the human side of mining, there won’t be anything better than \u003ci\u003eThe Valley\u003c\/i\u003e * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eThe early sections of \u003ci\u003eThe Valley\u003c\/i\u003e recall the world described by D. H. Lawrence in \u003ci\u003eSons and Lovers\u003c\/i\u003e but, with her spirit guides and secret passions, Winnie could have wandered in from the pages of \u003ci\u003eOne Hundred Years of Solitude\u003c\/i\u003e ... \u003ci\u003eThe Valley \u003c\/i\u003eis an extraordinary book about hidden lives ***** * \u003cb\u003eFrances Wilson, \u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eIntensely enjoyable * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eHow many social reports have you read that combine the epic sweep of \u003ci\u003eGone With The Wind\u003c\/i\u003e with the microscopic intensity of Tolstoy ... Extraordinary … There is no need for photographs to put a face to the individuals so compellingly captured by Benson **** * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Express\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eFascinating * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Express\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eVivid * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eRemarkable ... Benson’s book is a masterpiece of empathetic imagination * \u003cb\u003eLucy Lethbridge, \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eBenson relates more than the story of a hard land and proud culture; this is a saga about hard-working men and strong-minded women who bolstered one another through the many strikes and struggles of the 20th century * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSaga\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eEpic … Benson captures the hard graft and constant perils of colliery life with cinematic vividness, especially in the set-pieces on mining accidents. For an unvarnished, well-crafted story of the human side of mining, there won’t be anything better than \u003ci\u003eThe Valley\u003c\/i\u003e * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eIntensely enjoyable * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e, Must Reads\u003c\/b\u003e *\u003cbr\u003eI wish I’d written it. Richard Benson’s new book, a sprawling masterpiece chronicling 100 years in the life of one mining family in the Dearne Valley, is social history as it is meant to be. Neither novel nor documentary, it is a compelling hybrid of both * \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eYorkshire Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e *","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49408007536983,"sku":"9781408831632","price":13.49,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-valley-9781408831632","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}