Item Description

The Flight of Gemma Hardy

Summary

The Flight of Gemma Hardy is a captivating tale, set in Scotland in the early 1960s, that is both an homage to and a modern variation on the enduring classic Jane Eyre.

Fate has not been kind to Gemma Hardy. Orphaned by the age of ten, neglected by a bitter and cruel aunt, sent to a boarding school where she is both servant and student, young Gemma seems destined for a life of hardship and loneliness. Yet her bright spirit burns strong. Fiercely intelligent, singularly determined, Gemma overcomes each challenge and setback, growing stronger and more certain of her path. Now an independent young woman with dreams of the future, she accepts a position as an au pair on the remote and beautiful Orkney Islands.

But Gemma's biggest trial is about to begin...a journey of passion and betrayal, secrets and lies, redemption and discovery, that will lead her to a life she's never dreamed of.

Reviews

London Free Press (Ontario)

"The delight in reading Livesey's appealing novel is to dovetail the emotions and experiences of feisty heroine Gemma Hardy with those of Brontë's 19th century protagonist, Jane Eyre; both resilient young women, both downtrodden and cruelly treated but able, still, to flourish....In a clever sleight-of-hand Livesey meshes the two tales, updating the Brontë novel's gothic overtones to engage a modern audience." — Nancy Schiefer

Campaign for the American Reader

"[A] sweeping saga that resurrects the timeless themes of the original but is destined to become a classic all its own." — Marshall Zeringue

BookReporter.com

"Margot Livesey infuses every sentence of her novel not only with Gemma's quite compelling personality, but also with the details of the world she inhabits. As the title suggests, the book is filled with the imagery of birds, but they serve more than a thematic purpose. Gemma's affection for birds reveals her attention to detail and her desire to understand the relationships of things. These characteristics might also apply to Livesey herself, as her sharply observed, firmly grounded narrative transforms a classic tale into a story—and a place—all its own." — Norah Piehl

The Denver Post

"The narrative holds to the heart of Jane Eyre without resorting to mimicry. Mr. Sinclair might as well be called Mr. Rochester; the attraction between the two is as ill-fated as it is inevitable. She must leave Blackbird Hall to find herself, and part of finding herself is discovering her roots. Jane Eyre is, simplistically, a coming-of-age story and a social criticism set in a Gothic landscape. Livesey owns the soul of the story....The portrayal of the working class is near-Dickensian in its brutality and central to Gemma's journey of self-discovery. The girl, and then the woman, has the seeds of an independent mind, but these are nurtured and strengthened by adversity. Gemma would never see herself as a forerunner to the feminist movement. She is merely doing what she needs to survive, by making decisions that are true to her independent and moral character. The Flight of Gemma Hardy is a work that transcends its time." — Robin Vidimos

Fiction Writers Review

"Throughout the book, Livesey gives us terrific atmospheres in which Gemma's drama can unfold: the aunt's house is positively Gothic, the boarding school Dickensian with lost hopes, the Orkney Islands packed with stark beauty. [The Flight of Gemma Hardy is] ambitious—not many writers among us would risk treading on Charlotte Brontë's toes—and although it leans on Jane Eyre, it insists on having a life of its own that does not depend on its famous predecessor. Livesey has been an outstanding writer for quite a while now, and Gemma is the work of a talented, assiduous novelist truly hitting her stride." — Steven Wingate

The Write Companion

"As all readers know, the beauty, tragedy, inspiration, and loveliness that came from the original Jane Eyre is something that many over the years have tried to imitate or duplicate. Seeing as that you would have to be a remarkable writer to even touch the magic that Charlotte Brontë created, all that can be said is that THIS is a remarkable writer. This contemporary retelling based loosely on the original is filled with characters that the reader will remember far into the future, perhaps with readers one day comparing the two when Ms. Livesey's version joins the first in literary history....Every scene is monumental in its own way. The characters are so enticing, the reader simply does not want to put this book down. The contemporary feel flows quite easily with the memories of the original Jane Eyre. Gemma goes from abused girl to a woman who finds redemption, love, and peace at last." — Amy Lignor

The Wall Street Journal

"[T]hough there are countless points of comparison between the two novels (like Jane, Gemma feels a spiritual affinity for birds, for instance), the nicest thing about The Flight of Gemma Hardy is that its story is absorbing on its own terms and does not rely on a close knowledge of the original....Ms. Livesey writes lovely, understated prose, and she is here in her favored milieu: the Scottish countryside, where she set her mesmerizing 2001 novel, Eva Moves the Furniture. Ms. Livesey's treks through the novel's pleasing natural landscapes—gusty, beech-topped hillsides and rocky coastlines—are almost as engaging as her navigation of Gemma's restless psyche." — Sam Sacks

The New York Times Book Review

"It's a delight to follow the careful dovetailing of the two novels—starting on the rainy day when both stories begin, with each heroine in a window seat, finding solace in the pages of an encyclopedia of birds...Livesey is a lovely, fluid writer. There's much pleasure to be had in her descriptions of neolithic sites in Orkney and, most of all, her abiding affinity for the natural world." — Sarah Towers

O the Oprah Magazine

"In her cunning adaptation....Margot Livesey turns Jane [Eyre] into Gemma, the 20th-century version. Initially Gemma's story closely follows Jane's in tone and structure....but Gemma and Jane's paths diverge. By the mid-1960s, right and wrong are not as clear-cut as they once seemed. Expect no madwoman in the attic, and no pure villains. Instead, Livesey offers up characters who make crazy, often hurtful decisions based on pain and loss. Happy endings become more complicated once the politics of feminism and rock 'n' roll begin to challenge women to rethink their goals." — Liza Nelson

Library Journal

"[An] original slant on a classic story.... Within the classic framework, Livesey molds a thoroughly modern character who learns to expect the best of herself and to forgive the missteps of others. The author has a gift for creating atmosphere."

Booklist

Item Special Note

Autographe Hard Cover Edition.

About the author

Margot Livesey grew up in a boys' private school in the Scottish Highlands where her father taught, and her mother, Eva, was the school nurse. After taking a B.A. in English and philosophy at the University of York in England she spent most of her twenties working in shops and restaurants and learning to write. Her first book, a collection of stories called Learning By Heart, was published by Penguin Canada in 1986. Since then Margot has published six novels: Homework, Criminals, The Missing World, Eva Moves the Furniture, Banishing Verona and The House on Fortune Street. Her seventh novel, The Flight of Gemma Hardy, will be published by HarperCollins in January 2012.

Margot has taught at Boston University, Bowdoin College, Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon, Cleveland State, Emerson College, the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Tufts University, the University of California at Irvine, the Warren Wilson College MFA program for writers, and Williams College. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the N.E.A., the Massachusetts Artists' Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts. Margot is currently a distinguished writer in residence at Emerson College. She lives with her husband, a painter, in Cambridge, MA, and goes back to London and Scotland whenever she can.

Alice Sebold says, "Every novel of Margot Livesey's is, for her readers, a joyous discovery. Her work radiates with compassion and intelligence and always, deliciously, mystery."