The Very Thought of You

Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2010

Shortlisted for Amazon's Rising Stars award 2009

Longlisted for the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year 2010

Longlisted for Le Prince Maurice Prize for Literary Love Stories 2010

England, 31st August 1939: the world is on the brink of war. As Hitler prepares to invade Poland, thousands of children are evacuated from London to escape the impending Blitz. Torn from her mother, eight-year-old Anna Sands is relocated with other children to a large Yorkshire estate which has been opened up to evacuees by Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton, an enigmatic childless couple. Soon Anna gets drawn into their unravelling relationship, seeing things that are not meant for her eyes – and finding herself part-witness and part-accomplice to a love affair, with unforeseen consequences.

A story of love, loss and complicated loyalties, combining a sweeping narrative with subtle psychological observation, The Very Thought of You is a haunting and memorable debut.

________

"Melancholic, mysterious and heartbreakingly gorgeous." – The Times

"Elegantly constructed, with a plangent dying fall of a twist in the final scene." – The Telegraph

"Without question one of the best debuts I've read in recent years." – John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

"Irresistibly romantic ...a highly-charged story of love, longing, betrayal and loss ... written with such conviction that you can’t help but be swept along by its intensity." – The Mail on Sunday

"A sincere attempt to depict the reverberations of war - chronicling fractured relationships and the inability to love in the right way... Anna is a likeable and memorable heroine." – The Guardian

"...Through a series of subtle plot devices and a haunting contemplation of the different kinds of love that we meet in our lifetime, the story builds to a page-turning and tear-jerking climax." – Lancashire Evening Post

"A hugely affecting novel" – The Yorkshire Post

________

You can also buy an e-book of The Very Thought of You (ISBN 9781846881169) from Waterstone's and Amazon

Read an excerpt from The Very Thought of You

Read our interview with Rosie Alison

You can also read the new Readers' Notes to the Very Thought of You, in which Rosie answers some questions about the book and its genesis.