A Long Way From Verona

Jane Gardam is a wonderful writer. Her understanding of character and use of language are both remarkableThe Times

A Long Way from Verona is a brilliant, witty, and agonizingly true-to-life novelTimes Literary Supplement

A fiercly funny and personal bookEconomist

Comedy and sympathy are the marks of Gardams talentGuardian

I ought to tell you at the beginning that I am not quite normal having had a violent experience at the age of nine

Jessica Vyes violent experience colours her schooldays and her reaction to the world around her- a confining world of Order Marks, wartime restrictions, viyella dresses, nicely-restrained essays and dusty tea shops. For Jessica she has been told that she is beyond all possible doubt, a born writer. With her inability to conform, her absolute compulsion to tell the truth and her dedication to accurately noting her experiences, she knows this anyway. But what she doesnt know is that the experiences that sustain and enrich her burgeoning talent will one day lead to a new- and entirely unexpected- reality.