We That Are Left
by Clare Clark
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Pub Date Oct 13 2015 | Archive Date Nov 13 2015
Description
1910. Jessica and Phyllis Melville have grown up at Ellinghurst, a family estate fraught with secrets. A headstrong beauty, Jessica longs for London — the glitter and glamour of debutante life — while bookish Phyllis dreams in vain of attending university. Into their midst walks Oskar Grunewald, a frequent visitor fascinated by the house but alternately tormented and ignored by the Melville children. Oskar seeks refuge in Ellinghurst’s enormous library. Meanwhile Theo, the adored Melville brother, eclipses everyone around him.
The Great War arrives to devastate and reshape their world. In a country unrecognizable from the idylls of their youth, the Melville sisters struggle to forge new paths without the guidance of the old rules. But Oskar’s life has become entwined with theirs once again, in ways—both immediate and unimaginable-- that will change all of their futures.
With elegance and insight, in prose characteristically “stirring and seductive” (The Economist) Clare Clark brings us a new story of a kind of old family whose reckoning with change will haunt and resonate for many generations.
Advance Praise
“We That Are Left is still haunting me. It offers an utterly convincing sense of period; a story that tugs at you; characters who are surprising, tender, hurt; emotions crushed, misunderstood, exploding; on every page the unresolved intensity of real life.”—William Nicholson, author of Lovers of Amherst
“What a gorgeous, brilliant, heart-smacking book! I am in awe of its stunning scale.”—Laird Hunt, author of Neverhome
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780544129993 |
| PRICE | $28.00 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Eve S, Librarian
As a smart but socially inept ten-year-old boy, Oskar Grunewald prefers to hide in the library when visiting his mother's friends, the aristocratic Melvilles, at the grand Ellinghurst estate. The younger Melville daughter, Jessica, finds enjoyment in teasing and torturing him, while the elder daughter, Phyllis, who is a quiet, introspective sort, mainly keeps to herself. The years pass and World War I has a devastating effect on the Melville family. Phyllis moves to London and becomes a nurse, while Jessica feels isolated and ignored by her parents at Ellinghurst. After the war, Phyllis heads off on an archaeological dig, and Jessica schemes her way into a London flat and women's magazine job. Meanwhile, Sir Aubrey Melville is trying to complete an exhaustive history of Ellinghurst as the estate falls further into debt and disrepair. Oskar is off studying physics at Cambridge when tragedy strikes at home, bringing Oskar and the Melville daughters back together once again. Both the Melville daughters have had a profound effect on Oskar in his youth and later as a young man. Secrets in both Oskar's family and the Melvilles change the fates of all involved.
Told from the alternating perspectives of Jessica and Oskar, readers will enjoy watching both of them grow up, their triumphs and mistakes. Jessica is self-absorbed and spoiled, which may turn off some readers, but her vivacity and tenaciousness should still earn her the reader's respect considering her absentee parents. Oskar, a sweet, kind and shy boy, remains so as a much more self-assured, mature man. For fans of historical fiction set during the Great War and for fans of fiction set on sprawling British estates like Downton Abbey.
Cozy Book R, Reviewer
Beautifully written in exquisite detail about life in English society. This novel has all the elements readers desire. Intrigued by this masterfully written story I found it delightful. You absorb the characters and feel their triumph and pain. I highly recommend We That Are Left. Thank you to Houghton Mifflin for this advance copy.
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