First Love by Gwendoline Riley

First Love

Gwendoline Riley

Why did Neve and Edwyn marry? As you read Neve's account of her chaotic and nomadic single life you wonder what drew her to Edwyn and when he talks to her the way he does, why on earth does she stay? Can this be love? Some truly disagreeable minor characters but also some sympathetic and infuriatingly comic ones. An unusual and entertaining novel. Shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2017.

Extract
'You can always just get out if you find me so contemptible,' he went on, feet apart, fists clenched glaring at me over the settee.
'You have to get behind the project, Neve, or get out.'
'What?'
'Get ... behind ... the project ... or ... get out!'
'What's ''the project''?'
'The project is not winding me up. The project is not trying to get in my head and make me feel like shit all the time!'
Parallels
  • Opposed Positions by Gwendoline Riley
  • The Amateur Marriage by AnneTyler