You can't change your past. You can only use the experiences you live through to make your future better, wiser. Anna and her best friend George meet every week to remember, to sigh, to laugh, to reminisce about their moments of glory, guilt and mischief and share their sorrows over a glass or three of wine. The things they've done still make them blush. Anna wanted to be a poet - a famous poet. George left home in a childish rage and years later returned with her baby.

When Anna is asked to look after the boy across the road for a few hours each week, she isn't sure. She doesn't really do children. But she takes the job on and, gradually, a child's view of her world shows her a different place.

George remembers a flat she stayed in when she ran away from home. It had the kitchen of all kitchens and, oh, how she'd love to see it again. Anna sets out to see if it still exists and discovers a cookbook full of recipes, intimates notes and drawings from George's life.

Does all this mark an ending or the beginning of something new and marvellous for Anna and George?

About the Author

Isla Dewar's first book, Keeping Up with Magda, was published in 1995. Dewar found success with her second novel, Women Talking Dirty, the film of which starred Helena Bonham Carter. She contributed to the collection Scottish Girls about Town and has also written for children. Her most recent novel, It Takes One to Know One, was published by Polygon in 2018. Born in Edinburgh, Isla lived in the East Neuk of Fife with her husband, political cartoonist Bob Dewar. She died in July 2021.

Reviews

'It rings so true, Dewar evoking the preoccupations of age with a quiet authority... grounded in an awareness that experience and wisdom are qualities that are always hard-won'

* Herald *

'Under the surface there is a deep well of triumphs, romance, tragedy and loss ...[Anna's verse is] sometimes profound and beautiful, sometimes comic'

* The Scotsman *

'Advancing age may have rendered Anna and George invisible to the world, but so well drawn are they that readers across the generations will be attracted to these golden pals ... Lines lightly laced with pathos combine to pack a punch so powerful they often leave readers reeling'

* Sunday Post *

'Funny and sweet but not overly sentimental, fans of Gail Honeyman will love this warm exploration of love and life'

* Bookseller *



Book Information
ISBN 9781846974908
Author Isla Dewar
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Polygon An Imprint of Birlinn Limited
Publisher Birlinn General
Weight(grams) 209g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 130mm * 18mm