Book of the week: Re-educated by Lucy Kellaway
A fascinating and moving memoir of former FT columnist Kellaway’s late career switch
“The glamorous unreliability of Esther Freud’s father, Lucian Freud, is an inescapable force in her novels,” said Markie Robson-Scott on The Arts Desk. Her ninth is a “what if?” exploration of her parents’ relationship: what if her teenage mother, pregnant by the older artist in the 1960s, had had to return home to Ireland to give birth in a hellish home run by nuns?
Rosaleen is the stand-in for her mother, Bernardine Coverley, while Felix Lichtman is the Freud figure, haunting the French pub and ordering oysters in Soho restaurants. The timeline is not always clear, but Freud brings it to life with her “customary skill” and touches of dark humour.
This is a finely crafted novel of “three generations of women: the men they love and the choices they make”, said Ella Risbridger in The Guardian. “Tender, carefully drawn images reverberate.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Freud’s “darting, impressionistic” prose is full of riches, said Claire Allfree in The Times. She makes the most of details others neglect. Hitting the sweet spot between commercial and literary fiction, her novels are “invariably” a joy to read.
Bloomsbury 368pp £16.99; The Week Bookshop £13.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why more and more adults are reaching for soft toys
Under The Radar Does the popularity of the Squishmallow show Gen Z are 'scared to grow up'?
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Magazine solutions - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine printables - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
By The Week US Published
-
Alan Cumming's 6 favorite works with resilient characters
Feature The award-winning stage and screen actor recommends works by Douglas Stuart, Alasdair Gray, and more
By The Week US Published
-
6 historical homes in Greek Revival style
Feature Featuring a participant in Azalea Festival Garden Tour in North Carolina and a home listed on the National Register of Historic Places in New York
By The Week Staff Published
-
The best books about money and business
The Week Recommends Featuring works by Michael Morris, Alan Edwards, Andrew Leigh and others.
By The Week UK Published
-
A motorbike ride in the mountains of Vietnam
The Week Recommends The landscapes of Hà Giang are incredibly varied but breathtaking
By The Week UK Published
-
Nightbitch: Amy Adams satire is 'less wild' than it sounds
Talking Point Character of Mother starts turning into a dog in dark comedy
By The Week UK Published
-
Electric Dreams: a 'nerd's nirvana' at Tate Modern
The Week Recommends 'Poignant' show explores 20th-century arts' relationship with technology
By The Week UK Published
-
Joya Chatterji shares her favourite books
The Week Recommends The historian chooses works by Thomas Hardy, George Eliot and Peter Carey
By The Week UK Published
-
Ballet Shoes: 'magnificent' show 'never puts a foot wrong'
The Week Recommends Stage adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's much-loved children's novel is a Christmas treat
By The Week UK Published