Absolutely & Forever by Rose Tremain

A piercing story of thwarted love and true friendship from one of our greatest living writers.

Marianne Clifford, 15, only child of a peppery army colonel and his vain wife, Lal, falls helplessly and absolutely for Simon Hurst, 18, whose cleverness and physical beauty suggest that he will go forward into a successful and monied future, helped on by doting parents. But fate intervenes. Simon's plans are blown off course, and Marianne is forced to bury her dreams of a future together.

Narrating her own story, characterising herself as ignorant and unworthy, Marianne's telling use of irony and smart thinking gradually suggest to us that she has underestimated her own worth. We begin to believe that - in the end, supported by her courageous Scottish friend, Petronella - she will find the life she never stops craving. But what we can't envisage is that beneath his blithe exterior, Simon Hurst has been nursing a secret which will alter everything.

A perfect Tremain novel… English, dark and yearning… remarkable… [Tremain shows] us the things that make every human life extraordinary - The Times

Funny, piercing and singular… this gorgeous, pitch-perfect novel is a world unto itself… it’s powerful, too… I can’t fathom the reason why you wouldn’t rush straight out to buy it - Observer

A slim, funny, elegantly breezy coming-of-age story - Sunday Times

A complex tale of becoming that’s moving, evocative and mesmerising in its acuity - Mail on Sunday

An electrifying, word-perfect tale… Gently devastating, devastatingly beautiful - Daily Mail

An engrossing character study ... But it is also a study in tolerance and kindness, and as such is more relevant to today’s reader than it might first seem - Guardian

Written with piercing clarity and gentle humour, Absolutely And Forever is a study of the messiness of human relationships, the significance of secrets unspoken and the impact of the choices we make - Independent

This is a book about the comic, painful, life-long search for human understanding. Not a word is wasted; not a phrase trite. It is mesmerising, masterly and profoundly moving - Financial Times