When I First Held You

by Anstey Harris

Overview

Silence tore them apart. Can the truth bring them back together?

"Marvellous” —Lesley Pearse

"A hauntingly beautiful novel" —Imogen Clark

"Gripping, heart rending and extremely satisfying” —Katie Fforde

In 1960s Glasgow, anti-nuclear activists Judith and Jimmy fall in love. But their future hopes are dashed when their protestors’ squat is raided and many, including Jimmy, are sent to prison. Pregnant and with no word from Jimmy, Judith is forced to enter an unmarried mothers’ home, give up their baby and learn to live with her grief.

More than half a century later, Judith’s Mending Shop restores broken treasures, just as Judith herself has been bound back together by her late, much-missed partner, Catherine. But her tranquillity is shattered when Jimmy—so different and yet somehow the same—reappears, yearning to unpick the painful past.

Realising they each know only half of the other’s story, Jimmy and Judith finally break the silence that tore apart what might have been their family. Amid heartbreak and hope, how much can now be mended?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781662503863
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	01/24/2023
Pages:	316
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Anstey Harris was born in an unmarried mothers’ home in Liverpool in 1965. Now a mother and stepmother herself, she lives in Scotland where she runs a writing retreat. She has been inspired by her family history, and hopes to give a voice to the women and children—16,000 a year during the 1960s in the UK—separated from each other by forced adoptions.

Anstey won the H. G. Wells Short Story Award in 2015 and her debut novel, The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton, a Richard and Judy Book Club choice, won the Sapere Books RNA Popular Romantic Fiction Award in 2020. Her second novel, Where We Belong, was shortlisted for the RNA Book of the Year Award 2021 and she numbers Libby Page, Katie Fforde and Beth O’Leary among her many fans.

Editorial Reviews

This profound story of loss delivers an emotional gut punch but also displays human resilience. Recommended for fans of Jodi Picoult.” —Library Journal (starred review)

“It is brilliantly written, so many brilliant phrases which made me smile…I shall keep my fingers crossed that it is a huge hit. It ought to be, it’s marvellous. I shall be recommending it to all.” —Lesley Pearse, #1 bestselling author of The Woman in the Wood

“Struggling to find words for how amazing this book is—a beautiful, thoroughly original story about love in all its forms, with so many unexpected twists and turns. It made me laugh, made me cry, made me think.” —Frances Quinn, author of The Bonesetter Woman

“This is a hauntingly beautiful novel. The painful story of Judith and Jimmy is told with deep sensitivity in lyrical prose that was a joy to absorb, and the plot unfolds at a pace that keeps you turning the pages—such a winning combination.” —Imogen Clark, million copy selling author of Impossible to Forget

“Evocative, emotional and original, every word has been expertly crafted.” —Catherine Isaac, author of The World at My Feet

“When I First Held You is a wonderful kaleidoscope of passion, love, grief and misunderstandings. Heart-breaking and yet hauntingly beautiful…A stunning book—one to read and re-read many times.” —Celia Anderson, bestselling author of 59 Memory Lane

“I loved this gorgeous, poignant novel about loss and love and how over time we are both broken and mended.” —Sara Sheridan, author of The Fair Botanists

“Compelling…A story of broken dreams and unexpected healing. You’ll want to read this.” —Sarah Ward, author of The Shrouded Path

“Anstey Harris never disappoints. When I First Held You is gripping, heart rending and extremely satisfying, from start to finish.” —Katie Fforde, bestselling author of A Wedding in Provence

“A powerful, compelling and affecting read.” —Heidi Swain, bestselling author of The Summer Fair

“This book has a very big heart. Full of hope and so beautifully observed.” —Samuel Burr, author of The Fellowship of the Puzzlemakers

From the Publisher

★ 10/01/2022

When the Scottish Committee of 100 protest group, was arrested in 1960s Glasgow, Judith was torn from her lover, James. She doesn't hear from him until 50 years later, when he walks into her shop. When Judith informs him that she had been pregnant and was forced to give their baby up for adoption, he takes a DNA test in the hopes of finding their daughter; the result opens up past wounds, but also a chance for healing and reconciliation. Harris (The Truths and Triumphs of Grace Atherton) evokes the heartache and grief of losing a child to forced adoption, a sad reality that many single mothers like Judith had to face in the 1960s. With a dual timeline from Judith's past and present POVs, and an additional POV from Judith and James's biological granddaughter, Ruby, who finds them through the DNA testing, Harris delivers a story of beautiful, prose and three-dimensional characters. Young Judith's desperation to contact James and the callous treatment of unsupportive family is gut-wrenching. A surprise reveal of the events of that fateful day in Glasgow creates an intriguing layer to this emotional story. VERDICT This profound story of loss delivers an emotional gut-punch but also displays human resilience. Recommended for fans of Jodi Picoult.—Sonia Reppe

Library Journal