'I can split myself in two... something I have to do because of Joy and Matilde. They are my grandmothers and I love them both and they totally love me but they can't stand each other.
'Eleven-year-old Allegra shuttles between her grandmothers who live next door to one another but couldn't be more different. Matilde works all hours and instils discipline, duty and restraint. She insists that Allegra focus on her studies to become a doctor.
'Meanwhile free-spirited Joy is full of colour, possibility and emotion, storing all her tears in little glass bottles. She is riding the second wave of the women's movement in the company of her penny tortoise, Simone de Beauvoir, encouraging Ally to explore broad horizons and live her 'true essence'.
'Allegra is left to orbit these three worlds wishing they loved her a little less and liked each other a lot more. Until one day the unspoken tragedy that's created this division explodes within the person they all cherish most.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
'This stridently feminist debut packs an emotional punch.'
'Some people are so capable that it makes the rest of us feel incompetent. Matilde is this kind of capable. She has so much under control that there’s nothing left for others to do.' (Introduction)
'The adults seem determined to make the world a baffling place for Allegra. Suzanne Daniel brings the 1970s to life in this debut novel.' (Introduction)
'The adults seem determined to make the world a baffling place for Allegra. Suzanne Daniel brings the 1970s to life in this debut novel.' (Introduction)
'Some people are so capable that it makes the rest of us feel incompetent. Matilde is this kind of capable. She has so much under control that there’s nothing left for others to do.' (Introduction)
'This stridently feminist debut packs an emotional punch.'
