Things are never dull in the O’Connell family. Still, Fiona, squeezed between her quiet brother and her mischievous line-dancing twin sisters, thinks life in their tenement flat is far less interesting than Emily Bronte’s. But tragedy is not confined to Victorian novels. And life for Fiona in this happy domestic setup is about to change forever. Following the devastating events of a single day, her family can never be the same. But perhaps, new relationships will develop – built on a solid foundation of love. Moving, funny and ultimately heart-warming, Being Emily is a wonderful novel about one young girl trying to find her place in the world amid the turmoil that only your own family can create.
Being Emily
and over 1.5 million other books are available for Amazon Kindle . Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Special Offer until June 30, 2013: Receive an additional £5 promotional Gift Certificate, when you trade-in at least £10 worth of books. Learn more. |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
Donovan writes with bittersweet amplomb.
-- The Times
-- The Times
Book Description
Quality women's fiction with a strong commercial appeal - Marina Lewycka meets Marian Keyes
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By slow joe
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have just finished this wonderful book and know I will be thinking about the twists and turns in the story for a long time. As you turn the last pages you have no idea how it's 'gonnae end.' It's funny to start with but that doesn't last. The atmosphere becomes very dark by half way and I applaud Anne Donovan for keeping the reader in suspense for so much of the book. You can see the story being played out in the lives of so many people walking the streets and shopping centres in town. So many issues to think about. If you're in a book group choose this for discussion! I can't wait for our group to mull this over in the autumn.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By SJSmith
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Fiona is one of 4 children. Her brother Patrick is older than she is (by quite a few years) and then there are the twins, Mona and Rona, a good few years younger than she is. They live in Glasgow with their mother and father and the beginning of the novel introduces all of the characters with a little information about them; making it easier to know who is who.
Narrated in first person by Fiona, we are told the story of her life from being a child until she has become a young woman. It is a nice coming of age story. Fiona narrates in Glaswegian and whilst the accent initially was tricky it soon becomes part of the narrative and you forget about it. Even for words that you may not recognise, it is easy to put them into context.
Fiona's life is challenging at times and Anne Donovan certainly doesn't hold back but what you have to remember as a reader is that we are party to the challenges through the eyes of whatever age Fiona is at the time of them happening. It is easy to use the eyes and wisdom of an adult to solve her problems or think about how we might handle them, however using a child's or teenager's logic brings different results; some of which are painful.
I initially didn't like this novel, I was really struggling to get into it but couldn't put my finger on the reason why. The dialect wasn't holding me back and although I hadn't experienced all of Fiona's troubles I didn't feel like this was the reason either. Fortunately, I reached a point just over half way through where I suddenly realised I didn't want to leave the novel unfinished and I was pleased I had perservered.
Not having read any of Donovan's other novels I have no idea how this compares.... Read more ›
Narrated in first person by Fiona, we are told the story of her life from being a child until she has become a young woman. It is a nice coming of age story. Fiona narrates in Glaswegian and whilst the accent initially was tricky it soon becomes part of the narrative and you forget about it. Even for words that you may not recognise, it is easy to put them into context.
Fiona's life is challenging at times and Anne Donovan certainly doesn't hold back but what you have to remember as a reader is that we are party to the challenges through the eyes of whatever age Fiona is at the time of them happening. It is easy to use the eyes and wisdom of an adult to solve her problems or think about how we might handle them, however using a child's or teenager's logic brings different results; some of which are painful.
I initially didn't like this novel, I was really struggling to get into it but couldn't put my finger on the reason why. The dialect wasn't holding me back and although I hadn't experienced all of Fiona's troubles I didn't feel like this was the reason either. Fortunately, I reached a point just over half way through where I suddenly realised I didn't want to leave the novel unfinished and I was pleased I had perservered.
Not having read any of Donovan's other novels I have no idea how this compares.... Read more ›
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By JJ
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have read all of Anne Donovan's books and cannot wait for her next one. If she could just write a little faster that would help.
The story is of a young girl coming to terms with life, love and with death. Her life is rocked to the core when a family member dies but she must be there to help the others come to terms with it and so does not grieve as she should. She strikes up a friendship with a boy who could be called her soul-mate but takes a wrong turning along the path to true love.
She tries to stay true to herself through her love of literature (especially Emily Bronte) and her art which may be the only thing she feels she truly owns.
It is written, as with Donovan's previous novel, in the Scots vernacular but that just adds more colour to the story and should not put anyone off enjoying this book.
The story is of a young girl coming to terms with life, love and with death. Her life is rocked to the core when a family member dies but she must be there to help the others come to terms with it and so does not grieve as she should. She strikes up a friendship with a boy who could be called her soul-mate but takes a wrong turning along the path to true love.
She tries to stay true to herself through her love of literature (especially Emily Bronte) and her art which may be the only thing she feels she truly owns.
It is written, as with Donovan's previous novel, in the Scots vernacular but that just adds more colour to the story and should not put anyone off enjoying this book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I found the language in this book difficult to grasp at first, it's written as a Scottish person would speak. It nearly put me off but I'm glad I persevered. I couldn't imagine it without the accent as I think the story would lose something of it's character. It's funny and sad all at the same time.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By L. Bretherton
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I loved this book. Never having read any of Donovan's work before, I was unsure of what to expect. The writing is an EXACT portrayal of the Glasgow vernacular, full of gems like "embdy" (anybody) and "yous" (the plural 'you', as in 'are yous goin' tae the shoap the noo?') Once you get into the swing of it, you will barely notice it, although I can see that it might put some readers off (aff).
The story of Fiona and her family, their lives in a Glasgow tenement with their devout Catholic mother, her subsequent death and the decline of their father, is beautifully measured out to the reader. We get to know Fiona the schoolgirl, Fiona the Art student, Fiona the flatmate, Fiona the lover, as her life becomes more and more complicated. It is a gentle read, with one or two stark moments, but a satisfying ending, leaving you slightly uplifted.
The story of Fiona and her family, their lives in a Glasgow tenement with their devout Catholic mother, her subsequent death and the decline of their father, is beautifully measured out to the reader. We get to know Fiona the schoolgirl, Fiona the Art student, Fiona the flatmate, Fiona the lover, as her life becomes more and more complicated. It is a gentle read, with one or two stark moments, but a satisfying ending, leaving you slightly uplifted.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By RB
Format:Paperback
I REALLY ENJOYED BEING EMILY, I LOVED THE LANGAUGE AND THE CHARACTERS AND FOUND PARTS OF IT INCREDIBLY MOVING, THERE MAY BE BITS THAT DONT QUITE RING TRUE, BUT I LIKE THAT, IT GIVES IT A KIND OF FAIRY TALE QUALITY.I AM NOW GOING BACK TO READ BHUDDA DA!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Phil O'Sofa
Format:Paperback
Despite the fact that we have to learn Glaswegian and there's really no plot to this story, I found myself enjoying this account of a girl coping with various difficulties in her life after her mother dies and she she begins art college, gets a boyfriend etc.
The first-person narrator writes in her local dialect, with words like 'tae' for 'to' and 'wur' for 'our', but once you get the hang of this it's no problem. You just have to learn a dozen new words or so.
Actually it really adds to the character of the novel, and it occurred to me that without the dialect this would be just another coming-of-age type story, which suggests that the actual plot is lacking. And in a way this is true, not a great deal really happens. But never mind, it's an enjoyable read anyway, with a good sense of humour in spite of the downbeat story.
The title refers to the fact that our narrator, Fiona, is obsessed with Emily Bronte, though I couldn't see much of a resemblance between this story and Wuthering Heights.
The first-person narrator writes in her local dialect, with words like 'tae' for 'to' and 'wur' for 'our', but once you get the hang of this it's no problem. You just have to learn a dozen new words or so.
Actually it really adds to the character of the novel, and it occurred to me that without the dialect this would be just another coming-of-age type story, which suggests that the actual plot is lacking. And in a way this is true, not a great deal really happens. But never mind, it's an enjoyable read anyway, with a good sense of humour in spite of the downbeat story.
The title refers to the fact that our narrator, Fiona, is obsessed with Emily Bronte, though I couldn't see much of a resemblance between this story and Wuthering Heights.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see the review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Being Emily
Have not completed book yet, however what I have read is so funny and love it.Cant wait to get into the next chapter. fantastic buy.
Published 16 days ago by scarlet
5.0 out of 5 stars
Being Emily is wonderful
Anne Donovan is a wonderful writer. I've read them all now and can't wait for more. It's rare to come across a writer who is so warm, exciting, funny and always always real. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Columbaria
3.0 out of 5 stars
fairly interesting, but sort of aimless
Fairly interesting, but sort of aimless? I suppose I was expecting something similar to Buddha Da, so perhaps my expectations were too high. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Aberter
2.0 out of 5 stars
Poorly written
I swapped for this book, having read the synopsis - but I didn't get past page 10 due to the style of writing. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2009 by K. Fulton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely
I bought this book on a whim. I was not diappointed!
I loved the story - there was no way you could have predicted how the story would unfold. Read more
I loved the story - there was no way you could have predicted how the story would unfold. Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2009 by Book Worm
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
