Purpledaffodil
I cannot remember reading a novel when my opinion of the main character shifted so much. Gilda is an archetypal needy MiL You can imagine Alice writing a long rant on MN about her and her appalling intrusions.
And yet over the course of the book, you begin to understand what made Gilda this way. She is a victim of her upbringing and early life as much as her son is. Alice, her new DiL is the catalyst who redeems her.
Such a cleverly written book, it is hard to believe it is a debut novel and I shall look out for her next book.
I should like to ask the author if film makers have come calling? I can imagine with settings in pre war Munich, wartime and post war London, together with the complexities of plot and character, this would make an amazing film.
Not so far, I wish they would! My dream scenario would be for it to become a BBC Sunday night drama.