 First edition | |
| Author | Susan Hill |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | "Keys", printed hair cloth, 1954 by Ruth Adler Schnee |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Chatto and Windus [1] |
Publication date | 2 March 2017 [1] |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 224 [1] |
| ISBN | 1-78474-164-7 |
From the Heart, is a coming of age - and coming out novel [2] by Susan Hill, published in March 2017 by Chatto and Windus. [1]
Set in mid 1950s [2] England the novel follows Olive Piper as she leaves school and attends Bedford College, London to study English Literature. The Drama Society puts a production of Dr Faustus where she meets Malcolm Crowley who is studying Dentistry at King's College London. Not being married, nor able to prove she was going to be married, she was unable to obtain contraception and falls pregnant. She is forced to give up her course and rejecting marriage she moves to a home for unmarried mothers where she gives up her baby for adoption. Unable to return to Bedford College she resumes her studies at Keele. Her first teaching job is at a girls school in Salisbury where she falls in love with an older teacher, Thea...
Reviews were mixed:
Kirsty McLuckie in The Scotsman comments on the gentleness with which Olive’s choices are handled, "here even Olive’s more traumatic experiences – the death of her parents, the sudden end of a deeply felt love affair – are portrayed as merely a part of life. Olive’s reaction to them is of her time. Stoic, she deals with inner turmoil with a measured control which is reflected in Hill’s pared back writing. The descriptions of her intense feelings, when they come, are therefore all the more powerful." [3] Malcolm Forbes in The Herald is also full of praise for Hill, "So well drawn is her heroine, and so keenly realized her predicaments and misfortunes, that we feel for her at every turn. With trademark crisp, poised prose, Hill expertly articulates Olives, panic, fear and pain. [4]
In contrast Julie Myerson writing in The Guardian is unimpressed, "The prose is clompingly euphemistic, chattily cliche-ridden and bafflingly – for a writer who has given us so many satisfyingly subtle ghost stories – lacking in any attempt at subtext or ambiguity...The result is that the protagonist, for all her supposed truth and tact, never once springs to life, while peripheral characters – fumbling, dry-lipped boyfriend, sternly patronising male doctor – seem to have arrived straight from central casting." [2] Melissa Katsoulis of The Times writes "the brief section where Olive experiences that tragedy in the punishing confines of a home for unmarried mothers is unbearably sad and will make parents feel sick. Fortunately for any fainthearted readers, this is the only stirring part of an otherwise bland narrative." [5]
Meet Joe Black is a 1998 American romantic fantasy film directed and produced by Martin Brest, and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, and Claire Forlani. Celebrating his 65th birthday, businessman and devoted family man Bill Parrish is visited by Death, who wants to know what it's like to be human in return for giving Bill extra days of his life. The screenplay was written by Bo Goldman, Kevin Wade, Ron Osborn, and Jeff Reno, and is loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday, an adaptation of the 1924 Italian play La morte in vacanza by Alberto Casella.
Norwegian Wood is a 1987 novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The novel is a nostalgic story of loss and burgeoning sexuality. It is told from the first-person perspective of Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a college student living in Tokyo. Through Watanabe's reminiscences, readers see him develop relationships with two very different women—the beautiful yet emotionally troubled Naoko, and the outgoing, lively Midori.
Mary Jane Oliver was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her work is inspired by nature, rather than the human world, stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary walks in the wild. It is characterised by a sincere wonderment at the impact of natural imagery, conveyed in unadorned language. In 2007, she was declared to be the country's best-selling poet.
Malcolm Kennedy is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, played by Benjamin McNair. Shortly after he was cast, McNair relocated to Melbourne to be closer to the studio. He admitted that it was a shock leaving his family and friends in Sydney. The older members of the cast eventually helped him feel more comfortable. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 3 October 1994, as he arrives on Ramsay Street with his parents and siblings. An early storyline for Malcolm was a romance with Danni Stark, to whom he lost his virginity. Other storylines explored a friendship with Stonefish Rebecchi, a career as a handyman and later, coffee chain salesman, and marriage to Catherine O'Brien. The character's departure aired on 11 March 1997. McNair made two brief returns in 2002 and 2004, and a year later he reprised his role for the show's 20th anniversary. In July 2011, Malcolm returns to help his parents with their marriage and has a brief affair with Jade Mitchell. McNair returned to Neighbours in October 2014 for the 20th anniversary of the Kennedys' introduction. He also reprised his role in July 2022 for the serial's finale.
Isabelle "Izzy" Hoyland is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Natalie Bassingthwaighte. She made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 1 September 2003. Izzy was introduced as Max Hoyland's younger sister. The character departed in 2006, following Bassingthwaighte's decision to focus on her music career. However, in March 2007, Bassingthwaighte made a brief return to film a few episodes set in London. The character was well received by critics and viewers and Bassingthwaighte earned three Logie Award nominations for her role. In October 2017, Bassingthwaighte reprised the role for a guest appearance and she returned on 12 February 2018 until 20 March 2018. She reprised the role again on 21 July 2022 for the serial's final episodes.
Susan Kennedy is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Jackie Woodburne. The character and her family were created by storyliners in an attempt to bring the show back to its roots. Susan made her first screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 3 October 1994, along with her eldest son and daughter. The storyliners made Susan a teacher at Erinsborough High to give her immediate links with other characters. Since her introduction, Susan's personality and appearance have been through several changes.
"Big Two-Hearted River" is a two-part short story written by American author Ernest Hemingway, published in the 1925 Boni & Liveright edition of In Our Time, the first American volume of Hemingway's short stories. It features a single protagonist, Hemingway's recurrent autobiographical character Nick Adams, whose speaking voice is heard just three times. The story explores the destructive qualities of war which is countered by the healing and regenerative powers of nature. When it was published, critics praised Hemingway's sparse writing style and it became an important work in his canon.
Wind at My Back is a television series which aired in Canada on CBC Television between 1996 and 2001. It was created and produced by Kevin Sullivan, best known for his adaptation of Anne of Green Gables and Road to Avonlea. The series had five seasons, each with 13 episodes, and a Christmas-themed movie produced to wrap up loose ends, following the unexpected cancellation of the series.
Elizabeth Strout is an American novelist and author. She is widely known for her works in literary fiction and her descriptive characterization. She was born and raised in Portland, Maine, and her experiences in her youth served as inspiration for her novels–the fictional "Shirley Falls, Maine" is the setting of four of her nine novels.
Gail Godwin is an American novelist and short story writer. Godwin has written 14 novels, two short story collections, three non-fiction books, and ten libretti. Her primary literary accomplishments are her novels, which have included five best-sellers and three finalists for the National Book Award. Most of her books are realistic fiction novels that follow a character's psychological and intellectual development, often based on themes taken from Godwin's own life.
Stoner is a 1965 novel by the American writer John Williams. It was reissued in 1972 by Pocket Books, in 2003 by Vintage and in 2006 by New York Review Books Classics with an introduction by John McGahern.
Brooklyn is a 2009 novel by Irish author Colm Tóibín. It won the 2009 Costa Novel Award, was shortlisted for the 2011 International Dublin Literary Award and was longlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize. In 2012, The Observer named it as one of "The 10 best historical novels".
Jade Mitchell is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Neighbours, played by Gemma Pranita. Pranita's casting was announced on 7 September 2010 and she began filming her first scenes the day before. The actress was in Russia when she received a call from her agent about the audition for Neighbours. She returned to Australia and her agent managed to get her in on the last day. Pranita won the part of Jade and she was given a twelve-month contract with the show. She relocated to Melbourne for filming and she made her first screen appearance as Jade during the episode broadcast on 10 December 2010. In June 2012, Pranita announced her departure from Neighbours. She filmed her final scenes in August and departed on 29 October 2012.
Oliver Emanuel is a British playwright and radio dramatist.
Finlay "Fin" Roberts is a fictional character in the Australian soap opera Home and Away, portrayed by Tina Thomsen. She made her first appearance during the episode airing on 18 September 1991 and departed on 20 May 1994. Thomsen made return guest appearances in 1996 and 1997. Jessie Bullions portrayed a young Finlay in a flashback in 1997.
Dr Jenni Fagan is a Scottish novelist and poet. She has written several books including fiction novel The Panopticon, screenplays and several books of poetry. She was named Scottish writer of the year 2016 by The Glasgow Herald.
Half Bad is a 2014 young adult fantasy novel written by English author Sally Green that won the 2015 Waterstones Teen Book Prize and was shortlisted for the 2015 Branford Boase Award.
The Kennedy family are a fictional family from the Australian soap opera Neighbours. They have been a large part of the show since 1994, when the five-strong family moved into Ramsay Street. Both Karl Kennedy and his wife Susan celebrated 20 years on the show in 2014, and are stalwarts of the fictional Erinsborough community, with Karl serving as the area's doctor and Susan as principal of Erinsborough High. They have earned multiple award nominations for their roles. The Kennedy family has expanded to introduce several others since its conception, although plays a relatively minor role as of 2014, with Karl and Susan as the only members of their family still residing in Ramsay Street.
Shatter the Bones is the seventh book in the bestselling Logan McRae detective series set in Aberdeenshire by Stuart MacBride.
Latte and the Magic Waterstone is a 2019 German-Belgian computer-animated film directed by Mimi Maynard, Regina Welker, and Nina Wels. Based on the 1971 book of the same name by Sebastian Lybeck, it was adapted for film with a screenplay by Martin Behnke, Andrea Deppert, Marina Martins, and Jesper Møller. The film premiered at the Schlingel International Film Festival in 2019, and was released in Germany on December 25, 2019. It was later released on Netflix as an original film on July 31, 2020.