The Hand That First Held Mine

O’Farrell’s fifth novel, published in 2010, introduces two women connected via dual timelines fifty years apart, exploring motherhood, art, betrayal, and secrets. Lexie Sinclair is fresh to 1950s London when she meets a magazine editor and learns to be a reporter, as well as the ins and outs of post-war Soho. When she becomes pregnant, she decides to have the baby on her own. In present-day London, painter Elina has just had a baby and is having trouble adjusting. Meanwhile, her boyfriend Ted is confronted with more and more lost memories from his childhood.