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Mothering Sunday: A Romance (Vintage International) Paperback – January 10, 2017

3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 5,572 ratings

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From the Booker Prize-winning author, an intensely moving tale that begins with a secret lovers’ assignation in the spring of 1924, then unfolds to reveal the whole of a remarkable life. • Don’t miss the major motion picture starring Odessa Young, Josh O’Connor, Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Colin Firth, and more

“Exquisite ... shows love, lust, and ordinary decency struggling against the bars of an unjust English caste system.” —Kazuo Ishiguro,
The Guardian

On an unseasonably warm spring day in the 1920s, twenty-two-year-old Jane Fairchild, a maid at an English country house, meets with her secret lover, the young heir of a neighboring estate. He is about to be married to a woman more befitting his social status, and the time has come to end the affair—but events unfold in ways Jane could never have predicted.
 
As the narrative moves back and forth across the twentieth century, what we know and understand about Jane—about the way she loves, thinks, feels, sees, and remembers—expands with every page. In
Mothering Sunday, Swift has crafted an emotionally soaring and profoundly moving work of fiction.
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Haunting.” —The New York Times

“Exquisite. . .
Mothering Sunday shows love, lust, and ordinary decency struggling against the bars of an unjust English caste system.” —Kazuo Ishiguro, The Guardian

“A book you’ll want to read more than once—and then urge on your friends.” —NPR
 
“An exquisite, emotionally resonant romance.” —
Entertainment Weekly
 
“A fairy tale of sexual and intellectual awakening.” —
The New Yorker

About the Author

Graham Swift was born in 1949 and is the author of ten novels; two collections of short stories; and Making an Elephant, a book of essays, portraits, poetry and reflections on his life in writing. With Waterland he won The Guardian Fiction Award, and with Last Orders the Booker Prize. Both novels have since been made into films. His work has appeared in more than thirty
languages.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Reprint edition (January 10, 2017)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 110197172X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1101971727
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.15 x 0.54 x 7.98 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 5,572 ratings

About the author

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Graham Swift
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Graham Swift was born in 1949 and is the author of ten novels, two collections of short stories, including the highly acclaimed England and Other Stories, and of Making an Elephant, a book of essays, portraits, poetry and reflections on his life in writing. His most recent novel, Mothering Sunday, became an international bestseller and won The Hawthornden Prize for best work of imaginative literature. With Waterland he won the Guardian Fiction Prize, and with Last Orders the Booker Prize. Both novels were made into films. His work has appeared in over thirty languages.

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
5,572 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the writing engaging and insightful. They appreciate the vivid scenes and artistic rendering. However, opinions differ on the story quality, length, and character development. Some find it gripping and brilliant, while others feel the story lacks punch. There are mixed views on the pacing - some find it fast and compact, while others say it's too long.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

57 customers mention "Writing quality"49 positive8 negative

Customers appreciate the book's writing style. They find it engaging, with a unique first-person narrative that draws them in from the start. The narrative is perceptive and detailed, providing an insightful exploration of the events in the film.

"...The novel is a leisurely and very sensuous exploration of the ensuing tryst, for once in the actual home of the young man...." Read more

"...exactly clarify anything, but it does allow you to understand the events of the film better...." Read more

"Although the writing was good, the story was slow with a predicable ending...." Read more

"The book is richly written, but heart-breaking. It's short, intense, and beautifully artistic in its rendering...." Read more

12 customers mention "Insight"12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful and interesting. They say it's a reflective tale that draws them in and lingers in their minds. The book conveys the author's mixed emotions and is thought-provoking.

"...that I loved Mothering Sunday, but I do appreciate the way it lingered in my mind and opened up deeper meanings than were apparent on the surface." Read more

"...I finished it (appropriately) on a Sunday afternoon; it captivated me immediately and never let go...." Read more

"...I found both film and book thought provoking. I would have preferred reading the book first." Read more

"...Enjoyed it because its writing style was different. It draws you in , engaging the reader due to its uniquely intimate manner of writing in the..." Read more

9 customers mention "Visual style"9 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the visual style of the book. They find it visually appealing and well-written, with vivid scenes. The book portrays the class system sensitively.

"...has just been deprived of the flower of its young manhood, the beautiful entitlement of two young people in love enjoying each other without..." Read more

"...It's short, intense, and beautifully artistic in its rendering...." Read more

"...But then the twist in the story starts to develop. It's a lovely, well-written short novel, sensual, and full of hope. Well worth reading." Read more

"...and never lets you go in a stream of beautiful prose and wonderful imagery. "At 80, she had the face of a wrung-out mop"...." Read more

22 customers mention "Story quality"15 positive7 negative

Customers find the story gripping and brilliant. They describe it as a haunting tale about love, loss, deception, and birth. However, others feel the story lacks punch, with predictable endings and a mental meandering without much of a point.

"...spring, the charm of the English countryside, the quaintness of a vanished style of life, the melancholy of a generation that has just been..." Read more

"...are hints that, although written in the present tense, the story is a retrospective, and that Jane has become a famous author...." Read more

"Although the writing was good, the story was slow with a predicable ending...." Read more

"...All of this makes for a much more interesting story than a love story...." Read more

16 customers mention "Shortness"10 positive6 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's length. Some find it short enough to read in one sitting, and appreciate the compactness, saying a lot happens on each page. Others feel it's too short and the story is shallow.

"The book is richly written, but heart-breaking. It's short, intense, and beautifully artistic in its rendering...." Read more

"...I read the book in about two hours - a very short novel which I don't like. I like a nice long read!..." Read more

"...I enjoyed the compactness of the short book because a lot happened on each page and it was fast and unusual and immensely fun." Read more

"The only good thing about this book is that it was small. The characters in the book were very uninteresting...." Read more

12 customers mention "Character development"5 positive7 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the character development. Some find the characters engaging, while others feel they are not particularly interesting. They also mention the main character's repetitive thoughts.

"...But it could've been, if not for the endlessly repetitive thoughts of the main character and exhaustively detailed descriptions of menial tasks...." Read more

"...I loved the characters so much. I saw the ads for the movie and thought, I bet that’s an amazing book. It was!..." Read more

"...The characters are not particularly engaging. Disappointed." Read more

"Really liked the main character, Jane Fairchild. Jane took what she needed from her situation and made a very interesting life for herself...." Read more

11 customers mention "Pacing"7 positive4 negative

Customers have different views on the pacing. Some find it fast and engaging, while others feel the story is slow and predictable.

"...Gentle, affectionate, sexy: a wonderful novel." Read more

"Although the writing was good, the story was slow with a predicable ending...." Read more

"This slight book has a mesmerizing quality. It takes place in a single day, mothering day, but reflects the narrator's life,how she went from a maid..." Read more

"...of the short book because a lot happened on each page and it was fast and unusual and immensely fun." Read more

7 customers mention "Reader interest"3 positive4 negative

Customers have different views on the book's interest. Some find it engaging and surprising, saying they can't stop reading. Others feel it becomes less interesting as they read more, with too many words and repetitive elements.

"...It started out strong and very interesting but became less interesting the more I read. i kept waiting for something more to happen and it didn't." Read more

"Beautifully written. Couldn’t stop reading. Book follows the life of Jane Fairchild, moving back and forth from 1924 to the end of the century...." Read more

"...It could have been a good story, but it was too tiresome , too many words with little substance." Read more

"...It draws you in , engaging the reader due to its uniquely intimate manner of writing in the first person you feel like her confident ." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2017
    I'm a Swift fan anyway, but this was a special treat -- his best, I'd say, since the wonderful Last Orders. He has never written to a formula, so it's no surprise to find that this is rather different from the others -- although I suppose a surface similarity can be found in his fondness for the English countryside and certain aspects of English life -- in this instance the obsolete (?) tradition of Mothering Sunday -- which, the novel makes clear, had little in common with its modern commercialisation as Mother's Day. Here, in the aftermath of the First World War (the novel takes place in the early 1920's, though its extremely long-lived central character survives almost (?) into the new century), the day is intended to allow the (ever-diminishing number of) servants a day off to go to see their mothers. What Swift homes in on is that this leaves the servanted class to fend for themselves as far as meals are concerned. In this instance, it gives two neighbouring families an excuse for a lunch outing to a nearby hotel -- and the scion of one of the families an excuse to arrange a tryst with one of the maids of the neighbouring family, with whom he has has had an affair for some seven years -- now, presumably, to be terminated by his impending marriage. The novel is a leisurely and very sensuous exploration of the ensuing tryst, for once in the actual home of the young man. (The Modigliani nude on the cover, at first blush somewhat surprising on a Graham Swift cover, is in fact very appropriate to the frank sexuality of the encounter.) And that is about it, with flashes forward to somewhat surprising later career of the young woman, with one surprising development that I won't divulge. It has about it the warm languor of a beautiful day in early spring, the charm of the English countryside, the quaintness of a vanished style of life, the melancholy of a generation that has just been deprived of the flower of its young manhood, the beautiful entitlement of two young people in love enjoying each other without constraint. In some ways, it offers a counterweight to Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach, with its appalled and appalling vision of British sexuality in the early sixties. What a difference forty years made! (And now the pendulum has swung back again.) Gentle, affectionate, sexy: a wonderful novel.
    28 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2022
    When I saw the film version of Mothering Sunday, I knew immediately that I had to read the novel. The characters in the film are enigmatic—you can't tell why they are doing or saying what they are—and events jump from the past to the future, so I hoped that by reading the novel all would be clarified. The novel, I found, doesn't exactly clarify anything, but it does allow you to understand the events of the film better. Once you reconcile yourself to the fact that the entire novel takes place in a few hours (with a few flashes back and forward), you can adjust your expectations accordingly. Since completing the novel, I've passed it on to friends who have also enjoyed it. I'm intrigued enough by it to start reading other novels by Graham Swift.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2016
    Although the writing was good, the story was slow with a predicable ending. I think there was a great deal of subject matter that could have resulted in further development of the story and characters. I read the book in about two hours - a very short novel which I don't like. I like a nice long read! This is the first novel I have read from the author, but I will try him again to hopefully read a more complex novel as I liked his writing style.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2016
    one of the pleasures of reading fiction is finding an author who can inhabit the life of a character, especially when the character is different from the author, such as madame bovary from flaubert. jane fairchild is such a character, which is made clear more than half way through the book.

    by borrowing cinematic magic, graham swift reduces distance and, drawing closer without switching from the third person, his literary camera pans, possessing his female character. drawing closer still, he allows her to possess the house in which she’s in, and possess all of its possessions, a situation dividing her by class, as she, a maid, intimately walks through the house of an upper class family having made love with a man of the upper crust, turning tables on him, a member of the privileged class, who’s perceptions, by rank, birth, and education, while entitled to him are, by opposite qualifications, denied her.

    ‘Paul Sheringham had seen, known, explored this body better than she had done herself. He had ‘possessed’ it. That was another word. He had possessed her body—her body being almost all she possessed. And could it be said that she had possessed and might always possess him?’ poor assuming sherringham.

    by comparison, in her moment of awareness, of consciousness, jane fairchild possesses more than her body, she possesses everything, and stands with the authors of the Yellow Wallpaper and the Alice books. ‘Can a mirror keep a print? Can you look into a mirror and see someone else? Can you step through a mirror and be someone else?’

    this is a moment for the future jane fairchild, which pivots on a memory of mothering sunday in 1924 of a consciousness. the events leading up to that moment and the outcome, by comparison, are incidental, and such events should always be more than incidental. it is jane fairchild’s awakening which moves her beyond the event and defines what she will become. to miss this, is to miss appreciating graham swift’s well-crafted story, where phrases are wrenched tight in place with an extra tug. graham swift is a wordsmith, and in this short novel he works wonders, to everyone’s advantage.
    5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • ARMELLE
    5.0 out of 5 stars Très bonne découverte
    Reviewed in France on October 24, 2019
    Sensuel et subtile, une histoire d'amour sur fond de différences sociales, où un maître bienveillant ou le geste symbolique d'un amant peut changer le cours des choses et le destin d'une femme. Tout en finesse et magnifiquement écrit
  • Carmen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Todo ok
    Reviewed in Spain on January 6, 2019
    Un libro estupendo. Llego perfecto y a tiempo
  • Ursula Roth
    5.0 out of 5 stars Mothering Sunday - sehr empfehlenswert
    Reviewed in Germany on February 16, 2018
    Eine Geschichte, die sich von der Zeit löst und in schönen Einzelheiten erzählt wird.
    Sie ist nicht nur in inhaltlicher sondern auch in sprachlicher Hinsicht zu empfehlen.
  • WhatCathyReadNext
    5.0 out of 5 stars An exquisite story of desire, secrets and memories
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2017
    Mothering Sunday is one of the novels on the 2017 shortlist for The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. This is the first book I’ve read by Graham Swift and on the strength of the writing in this book, boy, what I have been missing. He is a master of observation with meaning drawn from gestures and objects, even from the way a man dresses.

    ‘Dressing, anyway, among their kind, was never conceived of as just flinging on of clothes. It was a solemn piecing together.’

    ‘It was in some way all for her – that she should watch him dress, watch his nakedness gradually disappear. Or that he just didn’t care. The sureness, the aloofness, the unaccountable unhurriedness.’

    For a housemaid, Jane is unusual in that she has been taught to read and write. Foreshadowing her later life, she loves books and has a writer’s interest in words and their meanings. So when Milly the cook asks Jane, ‘Are you an orchid?’ when she clearly meant orphan, Jane muses:

    ‘And did it matter if she’d used the wrong word – if the wrong word was a better one? …And what if orphans really were called orchids? And if the sky was called the ground. And if a tree was called a daffodil. Would it make any difference to the actual nature of things? Or their mystery?’

    Of course, Jane’s interest in words is a manifestation of the author’s own interest. A love of language, playful at times, is apparent throughout the book with words explored for oppositions and multiple meanings.

    ‘The sunshine only applauded their nakedness, dismissing all secrecy from what they were doing, though it was utterly secret.’

    ‘She knew him and she didn’t know him. She knew him in some ways better than anyone – she would always be sure of that – while knowing that no one else must ever know how much she knew him. But she knew him well enough to know the ways in which he was not knowable.’

    ‘He had ‘possessed’ [her body]. That was another word. He had possessed her body – her body being almost all she possessed. And could it be said that she had possessed and might always possess him?’

    However the attraction of this book is not only about the wonderful quality of the writing. There is narrative power too as it takes a sudden, devastating turn a third of a way through, conveyed in just two simple sentences. As well as the story of an assignation between people of different positions in society on a pivotal day in both their lives, it seems to me the book is a meditation on words, writing and story-telling. This aspect becomes more of the focus in later parts of the book. As Jane reminisces about the events of that Mothering Sunday, she observes, ‘Well there was a whole story there, a story she’d sworn to herself never to tell. Nor had she. Nor would she. Though here she was, look, a storyteller by trade.’ But, of course, Jane has told us, the reader, her story.

    I thought this was an outstanding book and I’m afraid no review of mine can do it justice. I loved the sensual, lyrical writing. I also have to mention the absolutely stunning cover. Whoever chose the painting that appears on the Scribner edition – Modigliani’s “Reclining Nude” – deserves a prize as well.
  • Jason Neustaeter
    5.0 out of 5 stars A short perfect tale
    Reviewed in Canada on June 20, 2016
    This is something that can be read and enjoyed at one sitting with time passing much at the speed of Jane's Sunday afternoon. The slow moment to moment pace of one critical day juxtaposed with the reflections of Jane's 90 year old self.