Putney

It is the 1970s and Ralph, an up-and-coming composer, is visiting Edmund Greenslay at his riverside home in Putney to discuss a collaboration. Through the house’s colourful rooms and unruly garden flits nine-year-old Daphne – dark, teasing, slippery as mercury, more sprite than boy or girl. From the moment their worlds collide, Ralph is consumed by an obsession to make Daphne his. But Ralph is twenty-five and Daphne is only a child, and even in the bohemian abandon of 1970s London their fast-burgeoning relationship must be kept a secret. It is not until years later that Daphne is forced to confront the truth of her own childhood – and an act of violence that has lain hidden for decades. Putney is a bold, thought-provoking novel about the moral lines we tread, the stories we tell ourselves and the memories that play themselves out again and again, like snatches of song.

About the Author :
Sofka Zinovieff was born in London. She studied social anthropology at Cambridge, then lived in Greece and Moscow. She is the acclaimed author of three works of non-fiction, Eurydice Street: A Place in Athens, Red Princess: A Revolutionary Life and The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother and Me, a New York Times Editors’ Choice 2015, and one previous novel, The House on Paradise Street. Her writing has appeared in publications including the Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, the Times Literary Supplement, the Spectator and the Independent. She divides her time between Athens and England. sofkazinovieff.com

Review :
A thought-provoking, moving novel Sofka Zinovieff’s debut novel is an engrossing saga of a family riven by ideological conflict and fractured by war ... Zinovieff’s historical gaze is scrupulously fair and does not shirk from uncomfortable truths Zinovieff writes vibrantly … There seems to be something poignant – and very often funny – on every other page The delicacy of Zinovieff’s perceptions, the abiding redolence of her descriptions and the captivating moods of her subjects make The Mad Boy, Lord Berners, My Grandmother and Me a book of rare pleasure Zinovieff provides a vivid sketch of the extraordinarily glamorous society of Faringdon in its heyday Zinovieff is an entertaining and amiable companion on this, at times, uncomfortable romp through her family saga Zinovieff’s historical gaze is scrupulously fair and does not shirk from uncomfortable truths Zinovieff tells a broad and enriching story … It is Zinovieff’s scrupulous eye for cultural curiosity which gives the story its sinew and underlying humility Zinovieff’s portrayal of Greece is beautiful and believable, engaging all the senses A piercing portrait of an extraordinary woman … Zinovieff approaches her subject intimately