Readers are hooked by the opening sequence: Sixteen year-old Lauren apparently witnesses her mother (baby on hip,) murder a man in their garden. The explanation for this act fills the rest of the book. Lauren's mother at seventeen, a beautiful girl calling herself "Dolly," takes up one end of the narration, relating her experiences during World War II. The other narrative voice is a middle-aged Lauren, a successful actress who has returned to her home for her ill mother's final days. It is predominately Dolly's story, her passionate love for handsome Jimmy, her strange obsession with her neighbor, Vivien, and her naive blunders that ultimately destroy all that she loves.
Reader Reviews
Readers are hooked by the opening sequence: Sixteen year-old Lauren apparently witnesses her mother (baby on hip,) murder a man in their garden. The explanation for this act fills the rest of the book. Lauren's mother at seventeen, a beautiful girl calling herself "Dolly," takes up one end of the narration, relating her experiences during World War II. The other narrative voice is a middle-aged Lauren, a successful actress who has returned to her home for her ill mother's final days. It is predominately Dolly's story, her passionate love for handsome Jimmy, her strange obsession with her neighbor, Vivien, and her naive blunders that ultimately destroy all that she loves.