The Stranger’s Child by Alan Hollinghurst

By Eithne Farry  on Monday 18 July 2011

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A tale of sexuality, class and privilege set in the summer of 1913

A tale of sexuality, class and privilege set in the summer of 1913.

Aristocratic poet Cecil Valance arrives to stay with his Cambridge pal George Sawle in the year before the Great War. Seducing George, he also makes a conquest of Daphne, his impressionable younger sister, composing a poem for her that creates a glimmering vision of England about to be destroyed by war. Hollinghurst charts Daphne’s progress  from smitten teen to runaway wife to squiffy old lady, along with the fate of the Valances’ mansion and the buried secrets of their distinguished, ditzy, damaged set. It’s a captivating portrait of society, where outmoded etiquette duels it out with lust, love and memory. A must-read.

*Visit marieclaire.co.uk/goodbookclub to find out how to buy this book for £8 at Amazon.co.uk, saving 60 per cent on the RRP (code STRANGER)

Reviewed by Eithne Farry

Review by Eithne Farry

Release date: Monday 18 July 2011

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