Today’s Must-Read – The Reinvention of Ivy Brown

 The Reinvention of Ivy Brown: A Novel

by Roberta Taylor

"'Her affectionate memoir, suffused with forgiveness for the worst of her relatives' foibles and admiration for their gritty determination to survive, presents true lives and situations which are every bit as dramatic as any television soap.' Val Hennessy, Daily Mail

'As mordantly funny as it is affecting.' Paul Bailey Independent"

Quite simply, Atlantic's biggest book of the year: Roberta Taylor's gripping first novel is a tale of love and betrayal in the freezing winter of London in 1963.It is the 15th of February 1963, and Ivy Brown, typist at the Wiseman Pulverising Factory, is about to turn thirty. As Ivy sits, staring at the back of the typist in front of her, she tries desperately to avoid thinking about her impending birthday, her freckled hands and her diminishing horizons. Two things lift Ivy Brown from her gloom: her brand new Beaver Lamb coat and the thought of Arthur.Arthur is the man on whom Ivy has pinned all her hopes. 'We are our own secret' Arthur says, and Ivy loves to repeat it, even as she recollects the parts of her life she has kept from him. But when Ivy spots Arthur at the bus stop, his arm around a young girl, she realises that she is not the only person keeping secrets. Her determination to uncover the truth spells disaster for all those in her way.  The reinvention of Ivy Brown comes at a heavy price.

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