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Books

A mother-son relationship that made me feel sick

Ysenda Maxtone Graham fears for the doting mother of Elizabeth Hay’s new family drama if ever her son decides to leave home

12 March 2016

9:00 AM

12 March 2016

9:00 AM

His Whole Life Elizabeth Hay

Maclehose Press, pp.318, £14.99, ISBN: 9780857055460

A boy, a car, a journey, a question: the first sentence of Elizabeth Day’s new novel goes like this:

From the back seat of the old Chevette, heading north, the boy asked his question into the restless air.

The restless air? The reader makes the mental adjustment: it’s not the air that’s restless, it’s the boy and probably his whole family.

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