Description

From Penelope Lively, winner of the Booker Prize

When . . . Charlotte is mugged and breaks her hip, her daughter Rose cannot accompany her employer Lord Peters to Manchester, which means his niece Marion has to go instead, which means she sends a text to her lover which is intercepted by his wife, which is . . . just the beginning in the ensuing chain of life-altering events.

In this engaging, utterly absorbing and brilliantly told novel, Penelope Lively shows us how one random event can cause marriages to fracture and heal themselves, opportunities to appear and disappear, lovers who might never have met to find each other and entire lives to become irrevocably changed.

Funny, humane, touching, sly and sympathetic, How It All Began is a brilliant sleight of hand from an author at the top of her game.

‘Contains some of Lively’s funniest and most enjoyable character studies . . . she remains a sublime storyteller’Guardian

‘Deeply comical, essentially kind-hearted, wonderfully written and seasoned with a rare wisdom’ Literary Review

‘More stylish than many writers half her age . . . Lively knows a thing or two about storytelling . . . her candour is refreshing, and reminds us that you don’t have to lie to yourself to live life finely until the very end’ The Times

Publisher Review

A deftly constructed, always enjoyable novel * Sunday Times * As always, Lively has a precise control of the comic, and an ear for dialogue honed over more than 40 years of writing * Independent on Sunday * Lively's prose is indeed lively, her humour wry and her insights into the human condition both wise and moving * Sunday Express * An engaging read * Woman's Own * Witty and astute * Daily Mail * Deeply comical, essentially kind-hearted, wonderfully written and seasoned with a rare wisdom * Literary Review * Elegant and engrossing, this is a gently funny and touching portrait of the complex path life can take * Easy Living * Contains some of Lively's funniest and most enjoyable character studies . . . she remains a sublime storyteller * Guardian * More stylish than many writers half her age . . . Lively knows a thing or two about storytelling . . . her candour is refreshing, and reminds us that you don't have to lie to yourself to live life finely until the very end * The Times *