Away from You

by Melanie Finn

• ISBN13: 9780312341466
• ISBN10: 0312341466
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2005-11-01
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Summary

Ellie's upbringing in colonial Africa in the 1960s and 70sÂ--stiff whiskies, keeping up appearances and English gardens amidst the African BushÂ--was marked by a troubled relationship with a violent father she didn't really know. So when she returns there after her father's death, for the first time in twenty-five years, it means facing a past she thought she had put behind her. But even as childhood memories threaten to paralyze her, Ellie sets out to discover the dark secret at the heart of her father's life and her parents' marriage, hoping the truth will allow her to break free from the past that has haunted her life.

Author Biography

Melanie Finn was born in Kenya, where she spent the first twelve years of her life. She was educated in the United States and has lived and worked on four continents. This is her first novel.

Table of Contents

"A deeply affecting book, with its own atmosphere of strong, unsparing light and brilliant detail. An exceptional first novel."
—Helen Dunmore, author of Mourning Ruby and The Lilac Tree

“This is the kind of novel that blends documentary with imagination, full of excellent reportage. The novel has pace and passion and a real point to it.”
–Margaret Forster, author of Diary of an Ordinary Woman

“Without being heavy-handed or judgmental, Melanie Finn creates a picture of East Africa, then and now, which reveals the sadness, waste, violence, and beauty of the place. A delicately crafted and powerfully evocative novel.”
–Esther Freud, author of The Sea House