The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Hand That First Held Mine is a tale about motherhood, of course, and love of all types, and strange twists of fate and malice.  The story follows two sets of characters:  Ted and Elina, who just had a baby boy.  They live in London and Elina, who nearly died in childbirth, has no recollection of the birth of her baby and is having difficulty adjusting to life as a new mother.  The story also follows Lexie Sinclair, a young girl in London a few decades previous, and her exciting journalist career.  Lexie's story was my favorite, as there was more action.  Ted's and Elina's story was portentous, which kept me going, and it paid off in spades.

I won't give the ending away here, except to say:  it's worth the read.

All of that, and I learned at least two new words:  maenad and chiaroscuro (both uttered by Lexie's journalist boyfriend).


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Check it out on Amazon here: The Hand That First Held Mine