Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley

From Goodreads

All the qualities that readers praised in The London Train are present in Clever Girl, Tessa Hadley’s brilliant new novel. It follows the story of Stella, from her childhood as the daughter of a single mother in a Bristol bedsit in the 1960s into the mysterious shallows of her middle age. The story is full of drama – violent deaths, an abrupt end to Stella’s schooldays, two sons by different fathers who aren’t around to see the boys grow up – but as ever it is her observation of ordinary lives, of the way men and women think and feel and relate to one another, that dazzles. Yes, you think. This is how it is.

My thoughts

This is the first book that I've read by this Author. It paints a bleak portrayal of the life of Stella through the years. It's not an easy journey of life for her by any means at all.

If we had been in Stella's shoes would we have made the same choices that she did. Perhaps, we wouldn't have done but for Stella they were the choices that she made.

In my heart I do feel that she loved Mac deep down but due to events that had happened throughout her life, I feel that she didn't feel that she had the right to love him. I certainly don't think that she can be accused of settling for second best at all, as she'd clearly made an impression on him previously.

It makes a change to read a book that isn't all hearts and flowers style romance. This book certainly isn't one of them at all.