Description

‘An electrifying, word-perfect tale… Gently devastating, devastatingly beautiful’ Daily Mail
‘Funny, piercing, and singular… I can’t fathom the reason why you wouldn’t rush straight out to buy it’ Observer

Determined, rebellious Marianne Clifford is searching for love and freedom in 1960s London

How do you find the courage to make your own life?

Marianne Clifford, teenage daughter of a peppery army colonel and his vain wife, falls helplessly and absolutely for eighteen-year-old Simon Hurst, whose cleverness and physical beauty suggest that he will go forward into a successful and monied future, helped on by doting parents. But fate intervenes. Simon’s plans are blown off course, he leaves for Paris and Marianne is forced to bury her dreams of a future together.

It is Marianne who tells this piercing story of first love, characterising herself as ignorant and unworthy, whilst her smart, ironic narration tellingly reveals so much more. Finding her way in 1960s Chelsea, and supported by her courageous Scottish friend, Petronella, she continues to seek the life she never stops craving. And in Paris, beneath his blithe exterior, Simon Hurst continues to nurse the secret which will alter everything.

‘Tremain has always surprised and delighted her readers’ Sunday Times, Best 23 Novels of 2023

** A THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023**

READERS LOVE ABSOLUTELY AND FOREVER:

‘Heartrending, funny, unputdownable’ 5*****

‘An undoubted modern classic’ 5*****

‘Marianne will remain with me as a friend’ 5*****

‘A masterclass in character and world building … the writing is just sublime’ 5*****

Sunday Times bestseller, September 2023

Publisher Review

PRAISE FOR ABSOLUTELY AND FOREVER: 'Stunningly beautiful and deeply moving' * Simon Schama * I can't think of any novel that has described the anguish, comedy and intensity of first love as well as Absolutely & Forever. It is utterly wonderful, and both captures its time and stands outside it ... Marianne's voice, her near-fatal obsession with Simon, and the way she is frozen in her fifteen-year-old self by a combination of yearning and loveless mothering, and the thrilling confusion of the 1960s are revealed with an exquisite delicacy, compassion and wit. I have adored most of Rose Tremain's novels, contemporary and historical, but I think this may be her masterpiece * Amanda Craig * 'There are only a handful of writers whose novels I read on publication day. Rose Tremain is one of them.' * John Boyne * PRAISE FOR ROSE TREMAIN: One of my favourite writers * Nina Stibbe * Tremain is one of the best novelists writing today * Sara Collins *