LINDA GRANT - THE CLOTHES ON THEIR BACK

REVIEW BY MAGGIE PERKOVIC
THIS BOOK WAS SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE
VIVIEN SPENDS A QUIET CHILDHOOD ENCAPSULATED IN THE PRESENT, SEALED OFF FROM THE PAST BY HER TIMID REFUGEE PARENTS. SHE IS TEN BEFORE SHE FINDS OUT SHE HAS A RELATIVE, TO THE HORROR OF HER FATHER HER GLAMOROUS, DANGEROUS UNCLE APPEARS AT THEIR DOOR DRESSED IN A PURPLE MOHAIR SUIT WITH HIS LEOPARD PRINT CLAD MISTRESS UPON HIS ARM. BUT WHY IS UNCLE SANDOR SO VIOLENTLY UNWELCOME IN HER PARENTS HOME?
BASED ON THE CHARACTER OF NOTTING HILL LANDLORD PETER RACHMAN WHO WAS BORN IN POLAND IN 1919, SURVIVED THE WAR IN A SIBERIAN LABOUR CAMP, CAME TO BRITAIN AS A REFUGEE IN 1946 AND DIED IN LONDON IN 1962, UNCLE SANDOR BECOMES A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF VIVIENS LIFE AND AS HE RETELLS HIS STORY TO HER SHE REALISES HOW SHE NEEDS TO LEARN FROM HIM ALL THE BACKGROUND THAT HER PARENTS COULDN'T, OR WOULDN'T, TELL HER.
A VERY GOOD READ