Kit de Waal

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My Name Is Leon

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The Trick to Time

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

Tender with a fierce undercurrent of tension and heartbreak

Jane Shemilt, bestselling author of 'Daughter'

The "trick to time" is that it can expand or contract at will, and in creating a mature heroine with decades of history, De Waal has herself performed a feat of skilful comprehension

[An] emotionally sure-handed novel exploring harrowing terrain with deft sensitivity

A beautifully written, exquisitely crafted story of love, grief and the quiet courage it takes to survive great loss

Excellent. The novel's ending will leave you reeling

An unforgettable tale of grief and life-long love

The Trick to Time starts gently and ratchets up the emotional intensity until you're ugly crying into your pillow

Weaving tragedy and joy, big themes and the minutiae of life, this is a love story to take on the classics

It's slight but engaging. The style is simple yet artful

A story that's full of care; even in its saddest moments it is tender and kind. It feels like a book about all the best parts of being human, about family and friendship, and the way that loss only hurts the way it does because it's grounded in love.

These distillations of everyday life have all the beauty of a finely crafted life drawing

A warm and endearing book about learning to live again

The Trick to Time proves that Kit de Waal is a writer destined for even greater things

Some moments you want to last forever. Some moments shape a life. 
 
For Mona, it's the joy of playing on a Wexford beach as a young girl, next to her family's cottage overlooking the Irish sea. The thrill of moving to Birmingham with a new job and a room of her own in a busy boarding-house. Meeting the love of her life; a whirlwind marriage; a sudden, tragic loss. 
 
 But now, decades later, Mona is determined to find happiness before it's too late. She knows that every moment is precious. But can we ever let go of the past that shaped us?

'There's a trick to time. You can make it expand or you can make it contract. Make it shorter or make it longer . . .' 
 
Some moments you want to last forever. Some moments shape a life. 
 
For Mona, it's the joy of playing on a Wexford beach as a young girl, next to her family's cottage overlooking the Irish sea. The thrill of moving to Birmingham with a new job and a room of her own in a busy boarding-house. Meeting the love of her life; a whirlwind marriage; a sudden, tragic loss. 
 
But now, decades later, Mona is determined to find happiness before it's too late. She knows that every moment is precious. But can we ever let go of the past that shaped us? 
 
'Devastatingly emotional. De Waal's storytelling gives us the poetry and sorrow of life itself' Financial Times 
 
'Weaving tragedy and joy, big themes and the minutiae of life, this is a love story to take on the classics' Emerald Street 
 
'An emotionally sure-handed novel exploring harrowing terrain with deft sensitivity' Sunday Times

Kit de Waal, born to an Irish mother and Caribbean father, was brought up among the Irish community of Birmingham in the 60's and 70's. Her debut novel My Name Is Leon was an international bestseller, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award for 2017. Her second novel, The Trick to Time, was longlisted for the Women's Prize and her young adult novel Becoming Dinah is shortlisted for the Carnegie CLIP Award 2020. She also crowdfunded and edited an anthology of working class memoir, Common People, which was published in 2018. Kit was named the FutureBook Person of the Year in 2019.

The Trick to Time

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Tender with a fierce undercurrent of tension and heartbreak

The "trick to time" is that it can expand or contract at will, and in creating a mature heroine with decades of history, De Waal has herself performed a feat of skilful comprehension

[An] emotionally sure-handed novel exploring harrowing terrain with deft sensitivity

Moving and enlightening

A beautifully written, exquisitely crafted story of love, grief and the quiet courage it takes to survive great loss

A beautiful book

An aching tale of love and loss

Excellent. The novel's ending will leave you reeling

An unforgettable tale of grief and life-long love

The Trick to Time starts gently and ratchets up the emotional intensity until you're ugly crying into your pillow

About Kit de Waal

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