The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell

A good holiday read. This book follows two young women - one in the early 1950s and one in the present day - who are ultimately connected. The connection is not particularly surprising and the plot is more gentle than shocking but it still grips your interest. I enjoyed the writing, which is subtly good in a very unassuming way. The characters are a little one dimensional but enjoyably so. This book is great for an engaging, not too depressing beach read but is not very challenging, so not for those who like their novels with a lot of intellectual weight.