Hodgkinson, Amanda

Amanda Hodgkinson was born on October 25, 1964 ^[1] in the county of Somerset and grew up in a small village near the estuary of the Blackwater River in Essex. Hodkinson connects childhood memories with “pebble beaches and the sea coast, gray-green heather, salt marshes, fuss in boats, companies of noisy children playing all day on the seashore, and continuous cries of gulls” ^[3] .

Later, Amanda Hodgkinson moved to Suffolk and entered the magistracy of the University of East Anglia to study literary work. After receiving a master's degree in art, Amanda and her family decided to move to the south-west of France and then studied French for several years and adapted to life in a new country ^[3] .

Amanda Hodgkinson's debut novel, 22 Britannia Road (2011), has become an international bestseller. In February 2014, the novel "Spilt Milk" was released, and in July of that year, the story "Tin Town" in the collection "Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion". Currently, the writer lives in the south-west of France with her family and is working on her third novel ^[1] .

Amanda Hodgkinson is married, has two children ^[3] .

Despite the fact that Amanda Hodgkinson began to engage in literary work recently, her works received positive critical assessments. According to The Independent magazine, “Amanda Hodgkinson is quickly becoming an excellent artistic chronicler of women's lives” ^[4] .

After the publication of the first novel, “22 Britannia Road,” by Penguin, one of the world’s most famous newspapers, The Times described the work as “an impressive story, beautifully set out.” ^[2]

22 Britannia Road

Amanda Hodkinson published her debut novel “22 Britannia Road” in 2011, after which he became a bestseller in the Netherlands, a bestseller according to The New York Times magazine in the USA, and then extremely popular in other countries of the world.

In 2011, the novel was selected as a finalist in the literary nomination "The East Anglian Book Awards" ^[5] and won numerous literary awards, including the Waterstones 11 Best Debut Novels 2011, The Silver Feather, The Italian Cariparma Award 2012 and The Prix Agora de St Foy 2013 in France ^[2] . To date, the novel has been translated into 15 languages ^[1] .

22 Britannia Road is a novel about the fate of a Polish family whose members are trying to return to their former lives after the end of World War II. Sylvanas and Janusz lived together for less than a year, when World War II broke out and Janusz was taken to the front. Sylvanas remained in occupied Poland with baby Orek in her arms. Fleeing from German soldiers, a young woman takes Orek and runs into the forest, where, eating berries and tree bark, spends the next 5 years. On the run, Sylvanas meets refugees like her and tries to hide from the ubiquitous military. The boy grows in isolation with the thought that trees are his best friends, and all people except his mother are enemies.

Meanwhile, Janusz, being in France, meets the beautiful Helen and falls in love with her. However, he is looking forward to the end of the war to find his wife and son.

After 5 years, Janusz, having settled in the small town of Ipswich in house number 22 on the British Road, receives a letter stating that Sylvanas and Orek are in a refugee camp. Without thinking twice, he decides to return his family.

Sylvanas and Orek come to Ipswich. Together with Janusz they are trying to start life from scratch. Orek goes to school, Sylvanas takes care of the household, and Janusz receives a promotion at work. It seems that life is taking its course, but the difficult secrets of the past cannot be let go of the members of the Novak family, because each of them keeps in his soul that which is impossible to forget. 22 Britannia Road is a survival novel, a story of how much war can bring life's main values ​​- peace and family, which are then so hard to find.

The Washington Independent Review of Books compares Sylvanas’s story to the story of the heroine of William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice. However, as the author of the article notes, “while no one with any humanity can accuse Sophie of committing suicide, Sylvanas’s tolerance and steadfastness in relation to such an irresistible accident is valiant and exalted” ^[6] .

Spilt Milk

In 2014, Penguin Books publishes the second novel of the writer, “Spilt Milk,” which the public welcomes with reviews: “the beautiful style of writing, almost cinematic descriptions, the refined style is just a wonderful book” ^[7] , “the depiction of rural life is so lyrical that it wakes up in memory of Edward Thomas ” ^[8] .

On his portal, Amanda Hodgkinson says that the prototype of rural nature captured in the novel was a small English corner, where once the writer was walking with friends. The river, surrounded by willows, inspired the author to think about what kind of people could once live in these places, and the idea of ​​the lone sisters Marsh arose in her mind.

The novel tells the story of the life of two sisters Marsh from the beginning of World War I to the 1960s ^[9] .

1913 year. Nelly, Vivian and Rose Marsh live “on the edge of the world” ^[4] in a small cottage on the banks of the Little River in Suffolk. Rose is the eldest among three, and she worries about the fate of Nelly and Vivian and believes that the safest way will be to live in seclusion, away from all settlements. But once the flood brings an unusual fish, and a mysterious stranger appears in their path.

1939 year. Nelly and Vivian are adult women. Nellie's daughter, Birdie Farr, suddenly realizes that she is expecting a baby. Nelly calls on Sister Vivian to help find foster parents for Birdie's daughter.

Years pass, and Birdie is trying to find his daughter, realizing that the dark past of the sisters Marsh relentlessly follows her.

Tin Town

In July 2014, the collection of short stories “Grand Central: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion” was published, in which Amanda Hodgkinson's short story “Tin Town” ^[10] occupies a special place.

“Tin Town” is a story about British women who emigrated to the United States in the 1940s in search of happiness and love. These women, who are popularly called GI brides, left their homes and families on the path to a new and bright life.

In Tin Town, the main character, the girl Molly, does not understand why she needs to move to America with her mother. She wants to go home to her sister Susan, her husband Clarke and grandmother, and recalls what they have been like in the house and on the farm in their small English village.

• amandahodgkinson.com - Amanda Hodgkinson's official website
• Grand central anthology