About this item
A sweeping and turbulent drama about the anxieties of postwar Britain, where one strong and inspirational young woman looks to find her place, no matter the cost. Sometimes, the truth lies in fiction. It's hard to be an American girl in 1957. Especially when your dad's job means you have to move four thousand miles from home. Especially if you'd rather play baseball than wear a dress. Especially if you see your mom fraying a little more from anxiety each day. And especially if being five minutes older means you have to protect your fragile twin brother. Still, Hedy Delaney loves her family, and she's trying to make the best of her new life on a U.S. airbase in England. After all, her dad's a war hero, her mother's a beauty, and her brother's a brainiac who writes moving stories about space travel. Then one tragic day, the unforeseen occurs and all three are ripped away, leaving Hedy alone with countless questions. What really happened on the airbase? What went on behind military closed doors? What were the secrets that could never be told? And how could any of it have led to her family's destruction?In her search for the truth, Hedy turns to a story her brother began months before he died. Deciding to finish what her brother started, Hedy begins to piece together what happened to her family. But whether she's ready for what she'll discover is another matter entirely. A sweeping and turbulent family drama, The Wonderful asks whether writing fiction can uncover fact, and if it's ever better to let the truth remain hidden. Sometimes, it's safer not to finish what you've started.
About the Author
Saskia spent her childhood in a cottage in the middle of a Suffolk pine forest. Her family kept goats, ponies, hens, and cats, and Saskia and her two younger siblings had the freedom to roam the forest alone. This experience helped inspire her to write her best-selling debut novel, The Twins, which was a Richard and Judy pick 2013. Her other novels are: Without You, The Other Me, and The Stranger. Her books have been translated into 15 languages; she's been shortlisted for Best Historical Read, 2015, and for the Leserpreis German Book Award, 2014. Her new novel, How It Ends, (The Wonderful in the US) has been short-listed for The East Anglian Prize for Literature 2019. She's been a columnist for The Guardian, worked as an editor and journalist on women's magazines, and as a script reader. She has a BA in English Literature from Cambridge University, and an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway. Saskia lives with her partner, three dogs and two cats in London. Her four children - identical twin daughters and two sons - are now grown-up enough to have their own homes. When she's not writing or reading, you'll find her baking vegan cakes and then working off the calories by dancing tango or salsa. She finds her twice-daily dog walks useful space for dreaming up ideas for plots.
