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The Separation by Dinah Jeffries.
I enjoyed reading this book and got used to the alternating chapters between Emmas life in England and Lydia's in Malaya and the hopeful search each were
encountering.
Each chapter in the book I looked forward with anticipation, I was hoping Lydia would be reunited with Emily and other family, and she did so near the finish of the book.
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Hi everyone,
Please send a PM if you are still awaiting a copy of The Separation. The next book club title will be announced on 1st July.
Regards
The Book Club
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Just to say that I received my copy of The Separation today so I am guessing others will too.
The delay is probably not the fault of Genes Reunited but Penguin Books themselves.
Perhaps it's my imagination but there seems to be an air of discontent with the despatch of the May books and no June book announcement.
Just like to say that I remain very grateful for all the books I have received and am happy to read them no matter how long they take to arrive or how frequently they are offered. I see them as a gift.
A review will follow when I've read the book
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The Separation by Dinah Jeffries
The book is set in Malaya during the 1950s at the time of The Emergency in Malaya. This was an unusual and interesting subject, one of which I knew very little. It would have been helpful if there had been a brief one page introduction explaining the period along with a sketch map of the country and the towns and regions in which the scenes were set. The novel had two main characters, Emma and her mother Lydia whose viewpoints, for most of the book, are given in alternate short chapters, Emma’s written in the first person and Lydia’s in the third.
The novel follows the experiences of both Emma and her mother during their separation after Alec, the father and husband respectively, returns to England with his two daughters. He claims that his wife had gone missing and was presumed dead after having an affair with another man. Alive and still in Malaya and searching for her family, Lydia is told that her husband and two daughters have perished in a fire started by rebels. Both Emma and Lydia are grief stricken by their separation.
There are some criticisms of this first novel. In the first two thirds of the book the short chapters all begin with the protagonist expressing angst and a feeling of loss of a mother/daughter, this along with reading of the gallons of beads of sweat along hairlines and the many men with lines from their noses to their mouths, does become tedious. Conveniently characters appeared as if by magic at various parts of the novel. All manner of events take place, which in my mind added nothing to the core story.
Adil and Maz were suddenly both on a bus and meet Lydia. This meeting is crucial to the plot (much later an explanation for this was given). Jack, with whom Lydia has been having a steamy love affair, without any prior evidence as far as this reader understands, just happened to live nearby where the bus had been stopped (again, later this was all explained). Because of the relationship Lydia had been having with Jack; her husband had claimed that he had felt compelled to return to England with his daughters in tow, despite his own lack of morals and the fact that they had lived in a society of Ex-pats many of whom openly had extra-marital relationships. Despite all his indignation, he quickly becomes attached to Vanessa who just happened to be on the same cargo boat, returning to England from Malaya with her nasty brother.
This very same Vanessa later becomes a close ally of Emma and helps her to search for her missing mother Lydia, despite the fact that a positive outcome could jeopardise her engagement to the “widower” Alec. Gran (Alec’s mother) changes from Gran to Grannie half way through the book, and for some reason Vanessa’s brother becomes a sexual predator both in England and in South Africa. Emma has a near-sexual encounter with Billy a friend from school and Lydia’s friend Cicely becomes not only a rich siren but also a secret service agent and a would-be gay lover. Of course there is the nun-teacher who just happens to have a locket containing Emma’s maternal grandmother’s image which leads Emma to discover a rich maternal grandmother whose only daughter was taken away from her at birth.
And finally we have Lydia’s lovers, the unfortunate Jack with hairline sweat and lines from the nose to his mouth, who did not live long enough to buy his way out of his contract and marry the “widow” Lydia. But then the shaven head Adil returned and sorted out a lot of things. He had caused many of problems in the first place; ordered by George, an even nastier man than Vanessa’s brother, who saves us from more intrigue by killing himself. Adil, who was working for a baddie turns out to be a goodie and falls in love with Lydia. The feeling is mutual. The book ends with two generations of mothers and daughters reunited and the reader wondering whether poor Adil will receive a letter from Lydia asking him to join her. Will he need to buy a woolly hat to cover his shaved head against the cold English weather when he sets sail for England, or will the now rich Lydia forget all about him? We never find out! Oh what a lot to take in. Probably too much.
:-S
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Belladonna - 'we' (other GR members) were discussing the absence of a June book on another thread - no one has seen the offer, and there isn't anything on the Announcement Board.
So don't worry - you haven't missed out on June's..................if there is going to be one!!!
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I was selected for the May book, but this hasn’t yet arrived, and I then wasn’t able to find the link for the June book, either, so have missed my chance to apply for that one!
Not happy :-(
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I haven't received a copy as yet. As there are no reviews my guess is they haven't been sent out yet?
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Not received mine yet. I'll post when I do.
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Hi everyone,
To those of you who were selected to receive a free copy of The Separation, we hope you enjoy reading it and would love to hear what you think of the book.
The Separation is author Dinah Jeffries' first title.
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