First published 2015
Nance Russell lives through a century of change that transforms everything around her. She works as a registered pharmacist when few women enter professions. She builds her family's home with her own hands, laying each brick. She runs businesses while raising children. The twentieth century opens doors her mother never imagined, yet Nance creates opportunities that surprise even her contemporaries. When she discovers her husband leads a secret political life, the revelation forces her to question what she thought she knew about the man she married. Kate Grenville transforms the memoir fragments her mother left behind into a complete portrait of one woman's remarkable journey. Nance's choices mirror those of countless women who seized new freedoms as the old world crumbled around them.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, biographical-fiction, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-saga, strong-female-lead
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
304 pages · Hardcover · Canongate UK