The Hand That First Held Mine

Tulips from Amsterdam
Registered by wingmissmarkeywing of Harwell, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on 5/24/2011
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6 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingmissmarkeywing from Harwell, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Thursday, September 26, 2013
Taking this book to the OXFORD Convention.

Released 8 yrs ago (4/10/2015 UTC) at Bookcrossing Convention 2015 in Oxford, Oxfordshire United Kingdom

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Going on the book buffet.

Journal Entry 3 by Nataliec7 at Oxford, Oxfordshire United Kingdom on Sunday, April 12, 2015
Picked up from the book buffet.

Journal Entry 4 by Nataliec7 at Barry, Wales United Kingdom on Thursday, January 10, 2019
I enjoyed this book very much. O'Farell had the ability to pull at my heart strings and I felt close to tears at the end.

The writing was beautiful, the characters were fab, the story itself engulfed me halfway through and I found myself in bed reading by lamp at 1am just to finish this book. 4.5 stars from me.

Released 5 yrs ago (2/28/2019 UTC) at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Adding to Flutterbies9 random bookbox!

Journal Entry 6 by Flutterbies9 at Meare, Somerset United Kingdom on Tuesday, March 5, 2019
This is one of the books which has been received by me when the Random bookbox returned home.

I have read (and enjoyed) others by Maggie O'Farrell so I will put this on tbr so that I may enjoy it too before moving on.

Journal Entry 7 by Flutterbies9 at Meare, Somerset United Kingdom on Thursday, May 16, 2019
This did not wait long on tbr as I knew I really wanted to read it and it was near the top of one of the tbr piles, but when the mountain next to that pile fell down, I discovered I had another copy of this unregistered!

I had a weird feeling part way through that I knew something that was going to happen in this book and I was correct in that - but not in the way it came about. The main characters, in different times, are Lexie and Ted - although I did wonder at first if it was to be Ted's wife Elina, who was the contrast to Lexie in the next generation, who would be the focus. Their parallel stories are a well contoured and known feature of Maggie O'Farrell and it was used to good effect here. The fragile character of Elina was brilliantly set up and I could see how she could so easily either fall into deep post natal depression or bounce back into 'normality' but thankfully she was a stronger character than at first she seemed. I did like how the two threads of storyline merged and separated again but I do think I can say little more without 'spoilers', so I will leave it as is now. Suffice to say that I enjoyed this book thoroughly and it has cemented my liking for Maggie O'Farrell's writing. I would read even more from this author.

I have a plan for this, but I will make this available for now. Depending on any response, I will either register the second copy or send it on its way unregistered.

Journal Entry 8 by Flutterbies9 at Book Box, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Thursday, May 20, 2021

Released 2 yrs ago (5/24/2021 UTC) at Book Box, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Released into Bookbox. Happy travels little book.

Journal Entry 9 by jules5 at Darlington, County Durham United Kingdom on Friday, October 22, 2021
I’d starting reading this without realising I hadn’t journaled it! Plucked from the bookbox .. onto the quite sad bits of the story at the moment, hoping to push on through them

Journal Entry 10 by jules5 at Darlington, County Durham United Kingdom on Sunday, January 16, 2022
What a remarkable book! I don’t think I have ever come across a novel that captures baby rearing in it’s rawest sense, let alone the dangers to maternal health that Elina had to endure. There were moments in the book that made me have to pause reading- reflecting on my own experiences. Parenthood and parenting are the touchstones of this book and while Lexie’s story centres on her growth, away from her parents, Elina’s is stuck - albeit temporarily- by the confines of new motherhood and negotiating the murkiness of her own and wider family relations. The mystery to the novel is long in coming but wraps up well so that by the end, there is closure to the people they have become. Would happily read this again!

Journal Entry 11 by jules5 at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom on Thursday, January 27, 2022

Released 2 yrs ago (1/28/2022 UTC) at -- Controlled Release, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Into the ‘Read it, Leave it, swap it’ book box

Journal Entry 12 by T_richardson_x at Ferndale, Wales United Kingdom on Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Added to the vanishing bookbox!

Journal Entry 13 by wingPlum-crazywing at Brighouse, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Thursday, April 14, 2022
Taken from The Vanishing BookBox

Journal Entry 14 by wingPlum-crazywing at Brighouse, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Sunday, October 1, 2023
Reserved for daff

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