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Description
For Kitty, growing up at Hay House amongst bluebell woods and doting relations is heaven. But for her mother, the restless Marina, a bohemian beauty who paints and weeps with alacrity, this comfortable domesticity cannot provide the novelty and excitement she craves. Marina is utterly... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis
Cast of Characters/Important People
- Kitty: Protagonist & Narrator. Eldest daughter of Marina & the elusive Mr. Fitzgerald.
- Marina: Kitty, Violet & Sam's mother. An emotionally unstable woman who takes her children on a roller coaster ride through different parts of England & New York. "Her mother was a beauty, a painter, and a weeper. She lived with alacrity. She spent her life being photographed by many exotic-sounding people, and people bought her paintings for amounts of money that Kitty could not comprehend. She wept about five times a week, though not quite as much as in the summer. <...> When she was on her best form, Marina was Kitty's most favourite thing." (Pages 11 of First Anchor Books Edition, February 2009)
- Mr. Fitzgerald: Marina's "one great big love". A married man who had an affair with Marina when she was very young, couldn't marry her because of "Mrs. Fitzgerald, a solid prenuptial agreement, and the iron grip of the Vatican on his conscience" but happily supported her & Kitty after their daughter was born. (Page 7 of First Anchor Books Edition, February 2009)
- Violet & Sam: Kitty's half-siblings by Marina & a magician named Barry. They're "seven years younger than Kitty, who didn't count them in the grand scheme of things, because she thought them babyish and beneath her, in the way that older children do". (Page 8 of First Anchor Books Edition, February 2009)
- Nora: "Nora came into Kitty's life when she was six months old, and her mother had banged the door shut on her affair with Mr. Fitzgerald. Her mother said Nora saved her life at this time. <...> Nora was tiny like Tinkerbell, with steel-blue eyes and the softest earlobes you would ever touch. She was exceedingly good at crossword puzzles and even better as a secret keeper." (Pages 7-8 of First Anchor Books Edition, February 2009)
- Bestepapa & Bestemama: Marina's parents; Kitty, Violet & Sam's grandparents. "Bestepapa had hands that were true as butcher's blocks, and his voice was like the beginnings of a bonfire." (Page 4 of First Anchor Books Edition, February 2009)
Memorable Quotes
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“What's perfect, Kitty? Life is flawed. She has to meet her loopy relations sometime. Why not now? Life is full of imperfect, my old sweetheart.”
Mark - Show all quotations from this book (warning: contains spoilers)
First Sentence
The phone is ringing.
Table of Contents
Authors & Contributors
- Sophie Dahl (Author)
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