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Review
'Very powerful writing. Sophie draws her reader in immediately and combines wit and poignancy to very powerful effect... Excellent.' --Katie Fforde, Bestselling Author, and Judge for the Yeovil Literary Prize.
'A warm, moving, wonderful read' --Wendy Holden
'The best thing about this novel for me was the engaging and charming narrative voice of the heroine, who makes mistakes, who is sometimes unjust to the people who love her best, who misunderstands and who is occasionally deliberately wrong-headed, but who is still the sort of person I'd like for a best friend. If you read this novel, I'm willing to bet that by page 10 you'll be best friends with Philippa Smith, too.' --Margaret James
'A warm, moving, wonderful read' --Wendy Holden
'The best thing about this novel for me was the engaging and charming narrative voice of the heroine, who makes mistakes, who is sometimes unjust to the people who love her best, who misunderstands and who is occasionally deliberately wrong-headed, but who is still the sort of person I'd like for a best friend. If you read this novel, I'm willing to bet that by page 10 you'll be best friends with Philippa Smith, too.' --Margaret James
Product Description
Philippa Smith is in her forties and has a beautiful newborn baby girl. She also has no husband, and nowhere to turn. So she turns to the only place she knows: the beginning.
Retracing her life, she confronts the daily obstacles that shaped her very existence. From the tragic events of her childhood abandonment, to the astonishing accomplishments of those close to her, Philippa learns of the sacrifices others chose to make, and the outcome of buried secrets.
Philippa discovers a celebration of life, love, and the Golden era of television. A reflection of everyday people, in not so everyday situations.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I believe that The Generation Game is The Book to read for 2011. I recently read it during my holiday and completely loved it.
Sophie Duffy tackled many subjects in her debut novel. Relationships, marriages, birth, parenthood, friendship and death - but all were done so in a feeling and often amusing manner that just kept the reader turning the pages.
A completely amazing book. I will certainly be recommending it.
Sophie Duffy tackled many subjects in her debut novel. Relationships, marriages, birth, parenthood, friendship and death - but all were done so in a feeling and often amusing manner that just kept the reader turning the pages.
A completely amazing book. I will certainly be recommending it.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an astonishingly assured and intricately plotted novel from a debut author. It held me in its narrative grip from the first page to the last, as the heroine Philippa unravelled the mysteries of her past and worked out what (and who) she wanted in life.
The author's style is engaging and wryly funny, making me laugh out loud one minute, but later moving me to tears. It's not easy to write about the death of a child (is it, Charles Dickens?) without sounding sentimental or maudlin, but Sophie Duffy manages to do this in some genuinely moving and heart-rending scenes. I'll never look at an old tin box in quite the same way again.
If you loved One Day by David Nicholls, you'll also love this book, because both authors tell the truth about the tragi-comedy of love and life. A five star debut - am really looking forward to seeing what this author does next!
The author's style is engaging and wryly funny, making me laugh out loud one minute, but later moving me to tears. It's not easy to write about the death of a child (is it, Charles Dickens?) without sounding sentimental or maudlin, but Sophie Duffy manages to do this in some genuinely moving and heart-rending scenes. I'll never look at an old tin box in quite the same way again.
If you loved One Day by David Nicholls, you'll also love this book, because both authors tell the truth about the tragi-comedy of love and life. A five star debut - am really looking forward to seeing what this author does next!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An interesting premise: the book starts with a woman in hospital talking to her newborn baby girl. She starts to tell the story of her life, beginning with her own birth in St Thomas's Hospital in 1965 and going right up to the present day.
"I'll tell you my story. Our story. Because there's nothing worse than wondering. Knowing is always better."
It works well to begin with the end, and to return to it regularly through the telling of everything that led up to that point. It builds anticipation and has us wondering how Philippa ends up where she is, who the baby's father is, how Philippa's life gets to that place.
The early chapters are told very cleverly, using an adult's voice but a child's sensibility. Even Philippa's experiences as a baby and toddler are covered, which I think is a difficult thing to do well, but it really worked here. As we move through Philippa's childhood, adolescence and finally adulthood, the central interest is from the characters such as her distant, aloof mother and her adoptive father Bob.
The story speeds up quite a bit when Philippa is an adult. I suppose that reflects our way of remembering our lives - early childhood experiences can seem so visceral, whereas later events often merge together. As a child, I remember the summer holidays seeming to last forever, whereas in adulthood I am often shocked at how fast the years go by (I'm still struggling to accept that it really is such a futuristic-sounding year as 2011). For me, the effect in this book was that the childhood years made a stronger impression upon me, whereas the years from 20 to 40 moved too fast for me to get much sense of the characters. I have a much clearer impression of the old woman Wink, for example, than of Philippa's husband Adrian.
There are a couple of big revelations at the end, one concerning Philippa's mother and one about her love life. I won't give away the details, of course, but I'll just say that I found the one about the mother very satisfying - completely unexpected but completely believable, and answering a lot of questions from the earlier part of the book. The romantic one I was less convinced by, but maybe that's because, as I said, I wasn't so wrapped up in the adult part of Philippa's life. The book for me was about Philippa's odd relationship with her mother, and that central theme I thought was beautifully explored and very pleasingly concluded.
"I'll tell you my story. Our story. Because there's nothing worse than wondering. Knowing is always better."
It works well to begin with the end, and to return to it regularly through the telling of everything that led up to that point. It builds anticipation and has us wondering how Philippa ends up where she is, who the baby's father is, how Philippa's life gets to that place.
The early chapters are told very cleverly, using an adult's voice but a child's sensibility. Even Philippa's experiences as a baby and toddler are covered, which I think is a difficult thing to do well, but it really worked here. As we move through Philippa's childhood, adolescence and finally adulthood, the central interest is from the characters such as her distant, aloof mother and her adoptive father Bob.
The story speeds up quite a bit when Philippa is an adult. I suppose that reflects our way of remembering our lives - early childhood experiences can seem so visceral, whereas later events often merge together. As a child, I remember the summer holidays seeming to last forever, whereas in adulthood I am often shocked at how fast the years go by (I'm still struggling to accept that it really is such a futuristic-sounding year as 2011). For me, the effect in this book was that the childhood years made a stronger impression upon me, whereas the years from 20 to 40 moved too fast for me to get much sense of the characters. I have a much clearer impression of the old woman Wink, for example, than of Philippa's husband Adrian.
There are a couple of big revelations at the end, one concerning Philippa's mother and one about her love life. I won't give away the details, of course, but I'll just say that I found the one about the mother very satisfying - completely unexpected but completely believable, and answering a lot of questions from the earlier part of the book. The romantic one I was less convinced by, but maybe that's because, as I said, I wasn't so wrapped up in the adult part of Philippa's life. The book for me was about Philippa's odd relationship with her mother, and that central theme I thought was beautifully explored and very pleasingly concluded.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Charm and nostalgia with an edge
I loved this! Right from the quirky opening, when Philippa tells her new baby, her own story right from birth. Read more
Published 22 hours ago by Cathie
Fantastic novel - ideal holiday read
This was a great book - really engaging and impossible to put down. I laughed and cried my way through it. Highly recommended!
Published 1 month ago by Amy Reader
The Generation Game
This story by Sophie Duffy was nicely crafted and so wonderfully british. I relived those times, the smells, the sweets, the excitement at new things, the clothes and the... Read more
Published 1 month ago by hiker girl
A great read!
This is a really great read and takes you along on the journey of life, with some great memories of the 'good old days'. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Fletch
The Generation Game
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it kept my interest with its flowing story line, ups, downs and surprises along the way, I recommend it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Rosie Mc
The Generation Game
So glad I had this recommended to me.. I enjoyed every bit of this book, the characters are excellent, the local references (I live in Devon), the highs and lows, it was so... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Miranda
So Readable
I loved this book. The characters were well drawn and likeable. I felt I knew them and was part of their world. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Anne Burnett
The Generation Game
This is a wondeful read. The flow of the story line combined with the great characters gets you hooked. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Jules
Generation Game
After reading this novel I loaned it to my mother and yesterday we both discussed how much we had enjoyed it. Read more
Published 4 months ago by A. J. Dugdall-marshall
Buy this book right now.
I absolutely loved this book.
It's the story of one woman and her slightly odd family, recounted over a period of time to her new daughter. Read more
It's the story of one woman and her slightly odd family, recounted over a period of time to her new daughter. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jacqueline Vincent
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