Being Emily

by Anne Donovan

Overview

Things are never dull in the O’Connell family. Still, Fiona, squeezed between her quiet brother and her mischievous line-dancing twin sisters, thinks life in their tenement flat is far less interesting than Emily Brontë's. But tragedy is not confined to Victorian novels, and life for Fiona in this happy domestic setup is about to change forever. Following the devastating events of a single day, her family can never be the same. But perhaps, new relationships will develop—built on a solid foundation of love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847671257
Publisher:	Canongate Books
Publication date:	06/01/2010
Edition description:	Main ed.
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Anne Donovan is the author of the prize-winning novel Buddha Da and the short-story collection, Hieroglyphics. Buddha Da was shortlisted for the Orange Prize, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Scottish Book of the Year Award, and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. It received a Scottish Arts Council Award and won the Le Prince Maurice Award in Mauritius in 2004. She has also written for radio and the stage and has been working on the screenplay for the film of Buddha Da. She lives in Glasgow.

Editorial Reviews

Her deliciously corkscrewed tale flows with the sap of everyday life.

SUNDAY TIMES

Donovan's novel is an accomplished family drama which is quirky and endearing. Don't wait until your next life to read it.

SUNDAY HERALD

She handles characters and plot with both toughness and tenderness, and depitcs the pains and pleasures borne by the developing borne by the developing female artist.

Independent on Sunday

Donovan writes with bittersweet amplomb.

The Times

An endearing coming-of-age novel, provoking laughter and sadness in equal measure.

Mslexia - Leanne Kolirin

Being Emily is so genuinely good-hearted, it's easy to warm to it. Rarely is Glasgow depicted so affectionately and if the family at the centre of the book is dysfunctional, there's no wallowing in misery for misery's sake.

Sunday Herald - The Arts

Wonderfully fresh and moving.

The Times - Kate Saunders

A tender, lyrical coming-of-age narrative, its people drawn with love in that singing Glasgow voice that is Donovan's signature

Guardian - Stevie Davies

Donovan writes, in Glaswegian dialect, with an idiosyncratic and beguiling prose style that was so powerful in her debut novel, Buddha Da...She handles characters and plot with both toughness and tenderness, and depicts the pains and pleasures borne by the developing female artist.

Independent on Sunday - Anita Sethi

"Donovan calms the heroic Brontë tempest by infusing it with a saving humour, tolerance, and good sense."  —Guardian

"Heart-wrenching plot and spirited prose . . . her best offering yet."  —Sunday Herald

"A sparky story . . . buzzing with Glaswegian patois, this is a charming coming-of-real-life novel."  —Good Housekeeping

"Wonderfully fresh and moving."  —Times

"Her deliciously corkscrewed tale flows with the sap of everyday life."  —Sunday Times

From the Publisher