Bob Mortimer wins 2023 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction with The Satsuma Complex The characterisation is outstanding and you can visualise all with ease. Ruby who we are introduced to in the present day is a breath of fresh air and helps James but especially Judith to lay some ghosts to rest. There is not one unlikable character which makes a very refreshing change!! As the novel reaches its conclusion it’s hard not to shed a tear. It’s an emotional and at times heartbreaking but equally heartwarming read which I thoroughly enjoy.

Harris was born in an unmarried mothers’ home in Liverpool in 1965. She has been inspired by her family history and hopes to give a voice to the women and children separated from each other by forced adoptions (16,000 a year during the 1960s). Join Liz Robinson for our publication date specialFestival Favourites event on LoveReading LitFest. About This Edition ISBN: In 1960s Glasgow, anti-nuclear activists Judith and Jimmy fall in love. But their future hopes are dashed when their protestors’ squat is raided and many, including Jimmy, are sent to prison. Pregnant and with no word from Jimmy, Judith is forced to enter an unmarried mothers’ home, give up their baby and learn to live with her grief. Harris writes with such conviction and passion, using her own experiences as a child born to an unwed mother in the 60s as inspiration. The writing is so descriptive and flows beautifully. Each character is carefully created, with such depth and layers.The essays cover a wide range of families, even including a gay man acting as a sperm donor for a lesbian couple. Sadly most of the fathers either come from broken homes or broke their own homes. That leads to a lot of anguish and anger and angst and shows how immature too many people are when they first have children. Two essays in particular are extremely vitriolic. One father with ALS is very bitter about his condition robbing him of his interaction with his children; he goes so far as to outright curse God which is a 180 degree view from most of the other essays (see below). Another father uses his essay as an anti-vaccine soapbox, deriding those who oppose his viewpoint as simpletons who think the world is flat. While this essay has an uplifting closing the anti-vaccine slant put me off from the beginning. This was the only truly political essay and felt out of place amongst all the other personal stories. I didn't discover until after I had read the book bout the authors own experience of being born in a similar mother and baby home , this must have made the book very difficult to write on a personal level but left us with a deeply authentic novel full of heart . The most surprising aspect of parenting has been how much my pre-parenting life looks like a cloud in the rearview.”—Dennis Lehane What happens when the past catches up with us, explains what happened many years ago...shows you exactly who you are, were meant to be, the connections you did not know about, longed for. Anstey Harris encapsulates what it is to be a human, holding another, or cuddling that pet. Touch, love, trust, disappointment...all these emotions and senses are explored.

There is a lot of buried pain that people have striven to overcome, lots of secrets and lies, misunderstandings, and sorrow at lost time and missed chances. Ultimately though there is optimism - a sense of (like Judith's shop) mending things - the rebuilding of lives, the seizing of chances, moving secrets into the light to allow understanding and healing of wounds. You spoke to me, to the core of me. I knew there was a version of you right inside me, at my very heart we were the same.’ Years later, Jude, now Judith, who has spent fifty-some years mourning her loss but having had the comfort of partner, Catherine, for most of that time, runs into Jimmy, now James, and her world is upended again. They are both widowed, but perhaps what once was broken can be mended. Oh my heart! When I First Held You, by Anstey Harris, pulls on all the heartstrings. It's one of those stories that causes you to literally laugh, cry and feel invested in. It delves into the tragedy that the unwed mothers homes, from mid 20th century, were. The main characters are all likeable but flawed. In other words, they are human. And yet, it is such a beautiful, hopeful read with grief, passion, smiles and love, I really hope this does well as it deserves to.It is written in beautifully compelling and lyrical prose. Judith is clearly a kind loving and generous person, grieving for her partner Catherine, her work entwined with her memories. The characters in this book are beautiful. I loved how the story was told, how things unfolded, and how the plot moved between the past and the present. The character narration was vivid, emotional, and honest. Being the father of a two year old son makes me contemplative about life. All fathers worry if they are doing something wrong. Modern life especially makes parents feel guilty, overwhelmed, and inadequate. The essays in this book share 22 different fathers' experiences. They cover the good times and bad times, the triumphs and challenges, of raising children. People who aren't parents, however, will likely find nothing of interest. The plot is so skilfully crafted as Judith’s past is interwoven with her present. And Judith is such a complex and layered character. Driven by extremes of love, bitterness and rage, she embodies humanity in its raw state. I loved meeting her. I adored too, the maturity of her age. When I First Held You simply couldn’t have been about a younger woman. The narrative needs her complexities, her insecurities and her strengths. She is the full sum of her 75 year old self. I very much enjoyed this book which reminded me in style of the nooks of David Nicholls .The author has a flowing prose style that made the book a relaxing east read