A Long Way from Verona

By: Jane Gardam

Narrated by: Kate Sachs

'I ought to tell you at the beginning that I am not quite normal, having had a violent experience at the age of nine'.

Jessica Vye's 'violent experience' colours her schooldays and her reaction to the world around her - a confining world of wartime restrictions, Viyella dresses, nicely restrained essays, and dusty tea shops. For Jessica has been told that she is 'beyond all possible doubt' a born writer.

With her inability to conform, her absolute compulsion to tell the truth, and her dedication to accurately noting her experiences, she knows this anyway. But what she doesn't know is that the experiences that sustain and enrich her burgeoning talent will one day lead to a new - and entirely unexpected - reality.

©1971 Jane Gardam (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

'The flavour of this brilliantly witty and agonisingly true-to-life novel is impossible to convey. One even wants to quote endlessly.' ( TLS)
'A fiercely funny, eccentric and personal novel.' ( The Economist)