Author:Penelope Lively

An intelligent examination of alternative destinies, choices and the moments in our lives when we could have chosen a different path, from Booker Prize-winning author Penelope Lively
In this fascinating piece of fiction, Penelope Lively takes moments from her own life and asks 'what if' she had made other choices: what if she hadn't escaped from Alexandria at the outbreak of WWII? What would her life have been like if she had become pregnant when she was 18? If she had married someone else? If she taken a different job? If she had lived her life abroad?
'[A] highly original form of fictional autobiography as well as a fascinating insight into the seemingly random nature of destiny' Daily Mail
'[Lively's] writing has always tackled deep questions of identity, memory, love and loss . . . These elegant 'confabulations', as she calls them, allow Lively's talents full range. Intelligent, limpidly well-written and full of human understanding, they evoke the times she has seen and the richness of other lives as well as her own' Sunday Telegraph
There's no mistaking the allegorical intent. The message here is that we're all, in a sense, little people oppressed by those in power - and so it's no wonder that we get our kicks whenever and wherever we can
—— Daily TelegraphWelsh writes with a skill, wit and compassion that amounts to genius. He is the best thing that has happened to British writing for decades
—— Sunday TimesPlaidy excels at blending history with romance and drama
—— New York TimesJean Plaidy, by the skilful blending of superb storytelling and meticulous attention to authenticiy of detail and depth of charaterization has become one of the country's most widely read novelists
—— Sunday TimesFull-blooded, dramatic, exciting
—— ObserverOne of England's foremost historical novelists
—— Birmingham MailAn excellent story
—— Irish PressA penetrating and thoughtful study of Catherine de'Medici
—— Northern Daily Telegraph'Irrestistably engaging'
—— Kirkus'Witty and intelligent...just the thing for a lazy summer day'
—— NewsdayGenuine wit and charm
—— ImageWitty novel about life and love after divorce, Hollywood-style.
—— Daily ExpressA bitchy and entertaining look at life in La-La Land
—— The SunA perfect poolside read
—— New Woman






