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by Megan Hunter
A sweeping, sensual historical novel about one woman's unconventional life lived in search of an answer by the award-winning author of The End We Start From and The Harpy.
She marvels at the way a single day can unravel everything, like ribbon pulled from a present.
In 2017, Megan Hunter burst onto the literary scene with her debut novel, The End We Start From, a startlingly beautiful story of climate change and motherhood that is now a feature film starring Jodi Comer. Her second book, The Harpy, fiercely explored marriage and power through a dark, imaginative tale of revenge. A writer of remarkable range, Hunter now delivers her first historical novel, a gorgeous story of art, desire, and faith set against the backdrop of a changing England.
Easter Sunday, 1938. Ivy is nineteen and ready for her life to finally begin. Her sprawling, bohemian family and their friends gather in the idyllic English countryside for lunch, arranging themselves around well-worn roles. They trade political views and artistic arguments as they impatiently await the arrival and first sight of Frances, the new beau of Ivy's beloved older brother, Joseph. In this auspicious atmosphere of springtime, Ivy's world feels on the cusp of something grand–but neither she nor those closest to her predicts how a single, enchanted evening will alter the rest of their lives.
A radiant, philosophical, and intimate journey through time, Days of Light chronicles six pivotal days across six decades to tell the story of Ivy's pursuit of answers—to the events of this fateful Easter Sunday and to the shifting desires of her own heart. Moving through the Second World War up to the close of the 20th century, Hunter captures the galvanic love and transformative moments that define a winding, beautiful life.
"Beautiful...Spinning an intricate narrative web, Hunter reveals how the characters' actions have lasting consequences...Readers will be rapt." —Publishers Weekly
"A delicious story about love, family, change and self-awareness, to be consumed slowly." —Library Journal
"Think One Day written by (and starring) Virginia Woolf (she's in the air this year). This is a lyrical and captivating book, dropping decade by decade into a single day in the life of the brilliant, headstrong Ivy." —The Guardian (UK)
"Wonderful, luminous ... the language is radiant ... it channels Woolf and Mansfield and feels completely fresh." —Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
"A glittering marvel of a novel, tender, beautiful, and deeply moving." —Stephanie Bishop, author of The Anniversary
This information about Days of Light was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Megan Hunter was born in Manchester in 1984, and now lives in Cambridge with her young family. She has a BA in English Literature from the University of Sussex, and an MPhil in English Literature: Criticism and Culture from Jesus College, Cambridge. Her poetry has been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and she was a finalist for the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award with her short story "Selfing." The End We Start From is her first book.
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