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LATE IN THE DAY
essa Hadley and her career are a beacon of hope for those carrying novels around in their minds: the writer was first published later in life, after building both a family and a career, and now enjoys widespread and critical acclaim for her carefully considered prose. Recently retired from her position as Professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, Tessa began academic life studying at Cambridge’s Clare College in the mid- 1970s, just a few years after the college started admitting women, and raised her children in the centre of town after graduating. Tessa recalls living in a cottage in the Kite area (now the Grafton Centre), cycling everywhere at breakneck speed, and has fond memories of Arjuna Wholefoods on Mill Road. In conversation, she shares vignettes of her time in our city with the same focus on human experience and domestic, everyday realism that has become a trademark of her work. Late in the Day is Tessa’s seventh novel. It is short but vividly drawn, and unfolds out well beyond its edges. Her calm, beautifully visual prose paints evocative images that are easy to imagine while following the action, though to call it action is slightly misleading – the novel opens with the news of the sudden death of Zachary, one of the four lead characters, but then the following few pages and remainder of the book precisely TESSA HADLEY’S NEW NOVEL IS BOUND TO DELIGHT LONG-TIME FANS AND NEW READERS ALIKE WITH ITS FRESH INSIGHT INTO UNIVERSAL THEMES
IMAGE Tessa Hadley’s seventh novel tackles death and its effect on those left behind
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J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0
C A M B S E D I T I O N . C O . U K
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