If My Father Loved Me (Paperback)

Tricky parental situations are abound in this novel. Firstly there's Sadie's uneasy relationship with her father Ted--when Sadie's mother died "he was left with a beady-eyed and unpliant child" and Sadie was left with a father who was an expert in "bottled dreams", flirting and double-dealing, but not so hot on child care. Elsewhere friends have uneasy truces with their lover's children while divorced couples try to keep their parental roles on course.

Rosie Thomas handles all this domestic drama with compassion and kindness. The characterisation is adept and the emotional dilemmas real and involving. Add in the lovely details abut the creation of scent--descriptions of the fragrance of Jasmine in Grasse, the appeal of Ted's Mayfair shop Scentsation "a faint breath of fresh flowers and warm aromatics which conjured up worlds of glamour and privilege," and you have a perceptive and engaging novel. --Eithne Farry --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
'A master storyteller' Cosmopolitan 'A special talent' The Times 'Thomas's novels are beautifully constructed and written. This one is a treat' Marie Claire 'Beautiful effortless prose... she shows a rare compassion and a real understanding of the nature of love' Sunday Times 'A story full of passion, heroism and all those things that keep you reading long after bedtime' New Woman

A delightful novel which picks its way gently between poignancy and lightheartedness, this latest story from celebrated writer Rosie Thomas will be much enjoyed by her many fans. Sadie and Mel are close friends who share every detail of each other's lives except Sadie's past, which is a closed book, even to her. When her mother died Sadie's father Ted, a gifted perfumer and charming conman, neglected Sadie in favour of a succession of 'aunties'. Truth and illusion have blurred to the extent that her adult life has been marked by the belief that her father did not love her and her current difficult relationship with her son seems set to repeat the patterns of her own past. When Ted dies suddenly, Sadie embarks on her own journey to lay the ghosts of her unhappiness to rest in the hope of rescuing her life today. As we have come to expect from this author, themes of love and friendship are skilfully woven together and entangle friends and family across generations. The subtleties of her characters are gently revealed and empathy for their situations keeps the reader glued to the book. But this is not mid-life family crises in soft focus: rows with children, disappointments with friends and frustrations in work all ring true and the complications of modern life are articulated with both compassion and humour. Tragedy strikes unexpectedly at several points in the book and forces the reader to look at the issue of acute and violent loss. Not everyone can have a happy ending but the book remains optimistic and this emotional whodunit, pinned securely against real life, is a very satisfying read. (Kirkus UK) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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