Girl in the Mirror
Published on 28. February 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
312 pages
978-1-80313-087-3 (ISBN)
Description
Girl in the Mirror chronicles the life of Muriel: A giddy kipper of a girl who craves the spotlight of a movie star, an ordinary girl with extraordinary dreams, growing up either side of the war in a family who behave as if love is on ration. She finds a love to claim as her own in the streets of Manchester and begins a life that seeks to contain her restless spirit. It sparks out through her dancing shoes and love of art. So begins Muriel's lifelong struggle with her fragile mind. Can she find the balance in her fractured life that is held together with love?
At ten she is full to the brim with dreams and ambition, a passion for dance, and a talent for it too, inspired by encounters with the paintings of Ford Madox Brown to create a life beyond her beginnings, Muriel takes on the mantle of family responsibility. It is a duty she resents when she wants to shine, to be in the spotlight, and escape a fate that seems mapped out for her. As a teenager on a street corner in Moss Side she meets Jim and sees a way to find a love that is lacking in her family and to meld him to her will, although his best friend Mickey still lurks and waits for her affection. She rails against the expectation that she will be a wife and a mother, is happy as a dance instructor and dressmaker, making silk gowns for rich ladies.
In the summer of 1939 she marries Jim, and shortly after, engineers a trip to Canada where she is excited by the possibility of a new life in a new country and intends to wow the Canadians with her city sophistication, but after a long journey, the isolation of the family farm is a shock. She rallies and woos the locals with her talents, but her moment in the spotlight is interrupted by the declaration of war. They must return to England, where Jim is called up.
She must choose to settle, or to fly.
At ten she is full to the brim with dreams and ambition, a passion for dance, and a talent for it too, inspired by encounters with the paintings of Ford Madox Brown to create a life beyond her beginnings, Muriel takes on the mantle of family responsibility. It is a duty she resents when she wants to shine, to be in the spotlight, and escape a fate that seems mapped out for her. As a teenager on a street corner in Moss Side she meets Jim and sees a way to find a love that is lacking in her family and to meld him to her will, although his best friend Mickey still lurks and waits for her affection. She rails against the expectation that she will be a wife and a mother, is happy as a dance instructor and dressmaker, making silk gowns for rich ladies.
In the summer of 1939 she marries Jim, and shortly after, engineers a trip to Canada where she is excited by the possibility of a new life in a new country and intends to wow the Canadians with her city sophistication, but after a long journey, the isolation of the family farm is a shock. She rallies and woos the locals with her talents, but her moment in the spotlight is interrupted by the declaration of war. They must return to England, where Jim is called up.
She must choose to settle, or to fly.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Market Harborough
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Troubador Publishing
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-80313-087-3 (9781803130873)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Winner of the Wasafiri Life Writing Prize, Jools Abrams is a successful ghost writer of over twenty books for clients. She was the Writer in Residence at Talliston House and writes stories, long and short, for adults and children; one published by Walker Books, the others performed nationally. She has written features for SCWBI, Mslexia and blogs and screenplays.