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Shop nowA Woman on the Edge of Time
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Learn moreA son’s search for his mother, a feminist pioneer—and a casualty of her time
In London, 1965, a brilliant young woman—a prescient advocate for women’s rights—has just gassed herself to death, leaving behind a suicide note, two young sons, and a soon-to-be-published book: The Captive Wife. No one had ever imagined that Hannah Gavron might take her own life. Beautiful, sophisticated, and swept up in the progressive sixties, she was a promising academic and the wife of a rising entrepreneur. But there was another side to Hannah, as Jeremy Gavron reveals in this searching portrait of his mother.
Gavron—who was just four when his mother killed herself—attempts to piece her life together from letters, diaries, photos, and the memories of old acquaintances. Ultimately, he not only uncovers Hannah’s struggle to carve out her place in a man’s world; he examines the suffocating constrictions placed on every ambitious woman in the mid-twentieth century.
Jeremy Gavron is the author of The Book of Israel, winner of the Encore Award, and An Acre of Barren Ground. A former foreign correspondent in Africa and Asia, he now lives in London and teaches in the MFA program at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina.
Gerard Doyle reads everything from adult, young adult, and children's books to literary fiction, mysteries, humor, adventure, and fantasy. He has won countless AudioFile Earphones Awards and was named a Best Voice in Young Adult Fiction in 2008. His audiobook credits include the bestselling Inheritance series (Eragon, Eldest, and Brisinger), How to Train Your Dragon, The Looking Glass Wars, Clubland, And Thereby Hangs a Tale, and Risk Worth Taking. His career in British repertory theatre includes many productions, most notably The Crucible, The Tempest, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Fiddler on the Roof. In America, he has appeared in Broadway in The Weir and on television in New York Undercover and Law & Order. Born of Irish parents and raised and educated in England, Gerard has taught drama at Ross School for the past several years.
Reviews
“Beautifully written—wholly unique…It is difficult not to rush through Jeremy Gavron’s compelling story which would translate brilliantly into cinematic form.”
“Jeremy Gavron’s quest to find his mother has produced a groundbreaking book and moving portrait of a spirited young woman—a ‘captive wife’—who refused to accept the social constraints of her time. Unforgettable.”
“In this moving memoir, a British nonfiction author and novelist explores the ways in which suicide dramatically affects those left behind…As the author interviews Hannah’s classmates, friends, and family members, and studies old diaries, films, and letters, his writing poignantly touches the enigmatic interior life of a mother ‘forever out of reach.’”
“This volume succeeds as both a poignant memoir and a well-researched and -constructed investigation of a life ended too soon.”
“[Gavron’s] careful work conjures not only one remarkable woman but also a snapshot of the fractured lives of women in general during the rapidly warping 1960s, with moving and revelatory conclusions.”
“A thoughtful meditation on a ruthless, mysterious final act.”
“[Gavron’s] quest is a double quest: to find out what his mother was like in life and to find out why she killed herself…The tenacity with which Jeremy pursues this goal is extraordinary…The taboo of silence that shrouded Jeremy’s childhood is broken. Those complicit with it aren’t arraigned; the tone is patient and compassionate. But Hannah steps out of the shadow, fifty years on, and the great unsaids are finally spoken.”
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