{"title":"Books by Esther Freud","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780140174120","title":"Hideous Kinky","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe thirtieth anniversary edition of a twentieth century classic - an unforgettable journey through 1960s Morocco, based on the author's own childhood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor fans of Gerald Durrell's \u003ci\u003eMy Family and Other Animals, \u003c\/i\u003eLaurie Lee's\u003ci\u003e Cider With Rosie \u003c\/i\u003eand Elizabeth Gilbert's\u003ci\u003e Eat Pray Love\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eQuirky, charming and suffused the footloose spirit of the sixties, this is the irresistible story of an English woman who decides on a whim to move herself and her two young daughters to Morocco. The ensuing adventure takes them through richly perfumed markets, dilapidated hotels and mystical Sufi retreats, via friendships and feuds, romances with nomadic street performers, hitch-hiking and nights camping by the coast - all seen through the eyes of a precocious five-year-old girl. 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I loved every page of it' \u003c\/b\u003eAnn Patchett\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSet on the Suffolk coastline in 1914, a compelling story of an unlikely friendship from the \u003ci\u003eGranta \u003c\/i\u003eBest of Young British author of \u003ci\u003eHideous Kinky\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Sea House\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThomas Maggs, the son of the local publican, lives with his parents and sister in a village on the Suffolk coast in 1914. He is the youngest child, and the only son surviving.  Life is quiet – shaped by the seasons, fishing and farming and the summer visitors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen one day a mysterious Scotsman arrives. To Thomas he looks for all the world like a detective, in his black cape and hat of felted wool, and the way he puffs on his pipe as if he’s Sherlock Holmes. Mac is what the locals call him when they whisper about him in the inn. And whisper they do, for he sets off on his walks at unlikely hours, and stops to examine the humblest flowers. He is seen on the beach, staring out across the waves as if he’s searching for clues.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut Mac isn’t a detective. He’s the architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and together with his red-haired artist wife, they soon become a source of fascination and wonder to Thomas.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet just as Thomas and Mac’s friendship begins to blossom, war with Germany is declared. The summer guests flee and are replaced by regiments of soldiers on their way to Belgium, and as the brutality of war weighs increasingly heavily on this coastal community, they become more suspicious of Mac and his curious behaviour…\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn this tender and compelling story of an unlikely friendship, Esther Freud paints a vivid portrait of a home front community during the First World War, and of a man who was one of the most brilliant and misunderstood artists of his generation.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204351492274,"sku":"9781408857212","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781408857212.jpg?v=1786020025"},{"product_id":"9781526629920","title":"I Couldn't Love You More","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn unforgettable novel of mothers and daughters, wives and muses, secrets and outright lies\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e‘Freud is a modern literary rarity: a born storyteller’ \u003ci\u003eTHE TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Such a powerful book' RICHARD CURTIS\u003cbr\u003e'Delivers an emotional punch that left me in tears' RACHEL JOYCE\u003cbr\u003e'Utterly compelling' HANNAH ROTHSCHILD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'I couldn't love it more' POLLY SAMSON\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'I loved this book' AMANDA CRAIG\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Completely, inspiringly wonderful' BARBARA TRAPIDO\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Breathtakingly beautiful' JULIET NICOLSON\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eAN\u003ci\u003e EVENING STANDARD \u003c\/i\u003eBOOK OF 2021\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRosaleen is still a teenager, in the early Sixties, when she meets the famous sculptor Felix Lichtman. Felix is dangerous, bohemian, everything she dreamed of in the cold nights at her Catholic boarding school. And at first their life together is glitteringly romantic – drinking in Soho, journeying to Marseilles. But it’s not long before Rosaleen finds herself fearfully, unexpectedly alone. Desperate, she seeks help from the only source she knows, the local priest, and is directed across the sea to Ireland on a journey that will seal her fate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKate lives in Nineties London, stumbling through her unhappy marriage. But something has begun to stir in her. Close to breaking point, she sets off on a journey of her own, not knowing what she hopes to find.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAoife sits at her husband’s bedside as he lies dying, and tells him the story of their marriage. But there is a crucial part of the story missing and time is running out. Aoife needs to know: what became of Rosaleen?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSpanning three generations of women,\u003ci\u003e I Couldn’t Love You More\u003c\/i\u003e is an unforgettable novel about love, motherhood, secrets and betrayal – and how only the truth can set us free. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204619370674,"sku":"9781526629920","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781526629920_5f41af07-abce-419f-ab69-478784edf934.jpg?v=1786022038"},{"product_id":"at-the-pond-swimming-at-the-hampstead-ladies-pond","title":"At the Pond","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTucked away along a shady path towards the north-east edge of Hampstead Heath is a sign: Women Only. This is the Kenwood Ladies’ Bathing Pond.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFloating in the Pond’s silky waters, hidden by a canopy of trees, it’s easy to forget that you are in the middle of London. On a hot day, thousands of swimmers from eight to eighty-plus can be found waiting to take a dip before sunbathing in the adjoining meadow. As summer turns to autumn and then winter, the Pond is still visited by a large number of hardy regulars in high-vis hats, many of whom have been swimming here for decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn these essays we see the Pond from the perspectives of writers who have swum there. 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A triumph’ Rachel Joyce\u003cbr\u003e‘A subtle, clever, evocative book’ Joanna Quinn, \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘I'm stricken with love for this book’ Meg Mason\u003cbr\u003e‘Exposes the sisterly bond – messy, mistake strewn and quietly marvellous – with tender charm’ \u003ci\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Frank, tender and unequivocal … I loved it’  Miranda Cowley Heller\u003cbr\u003e‘Delicate and profound – about how relationships bind us together and pull us apart’ Tracy Chevalier\u003cbr\u003e‘Spare, moving and beautifully written’ Jojo Moyes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe quandary of the younger sister – what to do when it had already been done…\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor as long as Lucy can remember, she’s been caught between loyalty to her rootless, idealistic mother and devotion to her fierce and exacting sister, Bea. But as the sisters come of age and embark on their own experiments – in love, drugs, work, motherhood – they find their lives, and their relationships, increasingly in turmoil. Can their love for each other transcend the damages of the past?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReaders love \u003ci\u003eMy Sister and Other Lovers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘Gorgeously sad ...  a beautiful and at times desperately painful voyage into maturity‘\u003cbr\u003e‘A beautiful book ... There is so much yearning and wisdom within its pages‘\u003cbr\u003e‘One of my very favorite writers ever - as soon as I finished this I thought I want to read it again‘\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57685874868597,"sku":"9781526686572","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":55897391595893,"sku":"9781526685209","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781526686572_288b1a68-e8e9-4d94-85ff-c33dc8d5d680.jpg?v=1792599096"},{"product_id":"9781529522822","title":"Enchanted Beach","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA lyrical picture book celebrating the changing seasons and living at the seaside with a gentle environmental message by an award-winning author and an exciting new illustration talent.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“A beautiful, magical book that captures childhood at the seaside.” Emma Chichester Clark\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom summer days spent playing on the beach, to flying kites in autumn, to buffeting winter storms and treasure hunts in spring, this is a magnificent celebration of the seaside throughout the changing year. This joyful story charts family life by the sea and celebrates many milestones such as birthdays and New Years. Esther’s lively poetic and lyrical text combines perfectly with Emma’s classic illustrations to captivate and enchant young readers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55897410175349,"sku":"9781529522822","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781529522822_9c54678c-fbbc-4011-b7c5-1d43ed3a75fb.jpg?v=1786023173"},{"product_id":"9780141011073","title":"The Sea House","description":"The architect Klaus Lehmann loves his wife, Elsa, with a passion that continues throughout their married life, despite long periods of separation.  Almost half a century after Lehmann's death in the village of Steerborough, a young woman, Lily, arrives to research his life and work.  Poring over Klaus's letters to Elsa, Lily pieces together the story of their lives.  And alone in her rented cottage by the sea, she begins to sense an absence in her own life that may not be filled by simply going home.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56224390742389,"sku":"9780141011073","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780141011073_e7869edf-6c39-4c62-a0e7-5159dc7470d0.jpg?v=1786011264"},{"product_id":"enchanted-beach","title":"Enchanted Beach","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAcclaimed novelist Esther Freud's first picture book – a timeless tale about the magic of spending time together at the seaside.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e“A beautiful, magical book that captures childhood at the seaside.” \u003c\/i\u003eEmma Chichester Clark\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"An evocative, timeless and heart-warming celebration of your own special moments at the beach.\" \u003c\/i\u003eLancashire Evening Post\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom treasure hunts in spring, summer days spent playing on the beach, flying kites in autumn and walking through buffeting winter storms, the magic of the beach is that it changes with the seasons and we change with it. 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From their peripatetic childhood to their restless teenage yearshitching through rural Ireland, the move to a communal houseshe's been forced to make a choice between these two very different ways of approaching life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut as the girls come of age and embark on their own experimentsin love, drugs, work, motherhoodBea is at risk of drifting further and further away. Can their loyalty to each other transcend the damages of a past that feels almost too dangerous to examine?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith scalpel-sharp insight, Esther Freud excavates the most intimate relationships of our lives, laying bare the fear and longing, the secrets and mistrust. \u003ci\u003eMy Sister and Other Lovers\u003c\/i\u003e is an irresistible exploration of love, family, and freedom in all its forms.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57495486857589,"sku":"9780063498235","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-esther-freud.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}