Other Echoes

Description

When recovering from an illness, Flora tries to make sense of her childhood in Borneo. A beautifully drawn picture from an acclaimed author. Other Echoes is the delicate and sensitive story of a young woman's growing self-awareness after revisiting her past. Flora is eighteen and recovering from an illness in the sanatorium at her boarding school. To while away the time, she starts to write down the story of her childhood - how at nine years old, she moved to Borneo with her parents, and encountered people and events shaped by the tragedies of the Second World War. In making sense of her own memories, Flora uncovers the ideas and emotions that make her the person she is today.

Adele Geras is the celebrated author of many novels including The Tower Room and Troy, which was shortlisted for the Whitbread Award. She has lived all over the world, including Jerusalem, North Borneo, and Gambia. She lives with her husband in Manchester and has two daughters.

The beauty of the book is the subtlety and the insightful way the bigger picture of the after effect of the war and the colonial experience are interwoven into the portrait of a growing girl * Guardian * [Geras] writing is surefooted and subtly crafted and this is an intelligent, sensitive piece of fiction about poignant emotions * The Bookseller * A richly atmospheric tale . . . Geras conveys the intensity of childhood experience with great skill * The Sunday Times * A bitter-sweet, piercing account of a childhood in Borneo * TES * Geras conveys well the difficulties of relating to a colonial community and being the new child * Books for Keeps *