Jane Gardam’s marvelous stories of young girls on the threshold of womanhood—God on the Rocks and Crusoe’s Daughter—have delighted her many readers. These “modern classics” (The Independent) are now joined by another novel that is equally fresh and vivid, comic and touching. Jessica Vye introduces herself on the first page by announcing, “I ought to tell you at the beginning that I am not quite normal, having had a violent experience at the age of nine.” Jessica’s “violent experience,” a prescient prediction of her future, colors her school days and her understanding of the adult world around her, as does the war raging in Europe. It’s a time of rationing and restrictions, of uncomfortable dresses, restrained essays, and dusty tea shops. Young Jessica has been told by a revered author that she is “beyond all possible doubts” a born writer. The proof being her refusal to conform, her compulsion to tell the absolute truth, and her dedication to noting her experiences. This she knew. What she doesn’t know is that the experiences which now enrich and sustain her talent will one day lead to a new and wholly unexpected reality.

Jane Gardam
Jane Gardam was the only author to have twice been awarded Britain’s prestigious Costa Award. She was the winner of the David Higham Prize, the Royal Society for Literature’s Winifred Holtby Prize, the Katherine Mansfield Prize, and the Silver Pen Award from PEN. Her novel The Man in the Wooden Hat was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times book award, and her novel Last Friends was a finalist for the Folio Award.

• Apr 29 2014
  The Emerald City Book Review: "... the central characters [are] so finely drawn, so real and so human."
  
• Dec 6 2013
  Mary Whipple Reviews: "Younger readers (even Young Adult readers) may especially relate to Jessica’s personal quandaries and her learning curve, while older readers will appreciate Gardam’s style and her insights"
  
• Nov 13 2013
  Kirkus: "The qualities for which Gardam is cherished (the quirkiness, the bright-eyed wonder at reality) are already apparent in this early work."
  
• Nov 11 2013
  The Millions: "Gardam understands the beauty of coaxing something to unfold over time, and trusts her readers with the patience to watch her stories grow."
  
• Nov 11 2013
  Bustle: "Her passion and fiercely individual voice make her more than the run-of-the-mill teenage heroine, and make A Long Way from Verona far more than just another coming-of-age story."