The Colour of Milk is the new novel by Orange longlisted author and playwright Nell Leyshon.
'this is my book and i am writing it by my own hand'
The year is eighteen hundred and thirty one when fifteen-year-old Mary begins the difficult task of telling her story. A scrap of a thing with a sharp tongue and hair the colour of milk, Mary leads a harsh life working on her father's farm alongside her three sisters. In the summer she is sent to work for the local vicar's invalid wife, where the reasons why she must record the truth of what happens to her - and the need to record it so urgently - are gradually revealed.
'Haunting, distinctive voices... Mary's spare simple words paint brilliant pictures in the reader's mind . . . Nell Leyshon's imaginative powers are considerable' Independent
'Bronte-esque undertones . . . a disturbing statement on the social constraints faced by 19th-century women' FT
'A small tour de force - a wonderfully convincing voice, and a devastating story told with great skill and economy' Penelope Lively
'I loved it. The Colour of Milk is charming, Bronte-esque, compelling, special and hard to forget. I loved Mary's voice - so inspiring and likeable. Such a hopeful book' Marian Keyes
'Brilliant, devastating and unforgettable' Easy Living
Nell Leyshon's first novel, Black Dirt, was longlisted for the Orange Prize, and shortlisted for the Commonwealth prize. Her plays include Comfort me with Apples, which won an Evening Standard Award, and Bedlam, which was the first play written by a woman for Shakespeare's Globe. She writes for BBC Radio 3 and 4, and won the Richard Imison Award for her first radio play. Nell was born in Glastonbury and lives in Dorset.
Mary is a sharp tongued fifteen year old farm girl who has a strong desire to learn how to read and write. “In this year of lord eighteen hundred and thirty one” you follow the journal of a poor and disabled girl who should have no rights going against the odds to achieve what she always wanted; the ability to read and write.
The Colour of Milk is written in a personal journal over the four seasons of a year. Mary is the youngest of four daughters living in a house of a man who really wanted sons; she copes the worst from him; is anger and frustration finds her being given to the local vicar to act as his domestic servant and care for his invalid wife. It is the vicar that she pesters to teach her to read and write and eventually he does. This book follows the growing relationship between the two as she begins to learn.
Mary is a spirited girl and her natural honesty often gets her into trouble but she is a wonderful character and relationship with her family and the vicar, along battling against her sex and class makes this an eccentric little book. There is a simplification and beauty to the prose of this book and with the quirky character of the narrative makes this pure joy to read.
I will admit it did take me a little bit to get use to the seen the lack of punctuation really though me off but the fact that it’s a journal I had to accept the fact that I shouldn’t expect perfection in the writing styles of a girl still learning to write. I have to say this is an adorable little book that gave me great pleasure in reading. Elegant and beautiful in a very simple way.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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19 August, 2012:
Finished reading
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19 August, 2012:
Reviewed