The Other Hand by Chris Cleave

(Note to reader: I’ve a copy of ‘The Other Hand’ to giveaway and all details can be found at the end of this post)

The blurb reads:

‘We don’t want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don’t want to spoil it.

Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this:

This is the story of two women.

Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice.

Once you have read it, you’ll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don’t tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.’

And I agree, I agree so much. The blurb is true, it isn’t a gimmick, the magic is within the unfolding. And after reading ‘The Other Hand’ I am left with a respect for the story, for the writer and for the reader.

The language is exquisite. I’ve never known a male writer be able to capture (and maintain) female voices, thoughts and mannerisms with such seeming ease. The story is told through two female narrators and they are entirely believable. The characters are vivid, real and each is distinctive. The observations are sharp, are beautifully twisted within the language:

‘She was whispering into it in some language that sounded like butterflies drowning in honey.’

I love that there is an exploration of the English language layered within the story, one that jigsaws together without seams. I know that we all have different tastes in our books, but this is (without doubt) my book of this year – The Other Hand is remarkable.

You can read the first chapter of ‘The Other Hand’ here and you can buy ‘The Other Hand’ here.

And, the rather nice people at Sceptre have agreed that I can give away a copy of ‘The Other Hand’ by Chris Cleave. All you have to do is leave a ‘please pick me’ comment by 3pm (GMT) August 27, then I’ll pop all names in a mug and ask a small child to select a winner. This competition is open to all.