Meg calls Gigi’s decision to leave ‘selfish’. Do you think this is fair to Gigi?
How do the romantic relationships in the novel relate to the ones between women? Do you think Tess and Gigi could have made the decisions they did without the support of their friends and each other?
Motherhood is a key theme in the novel. Discuss the complexities of Tess and Donna’s relationship, and how it changes over the course of the story.
Do you think we are destined to repeat the mistakes of our parents, or not? How do you think Tess’s parenting style might be influenced by the role models of Iris, Donna and Gigi?
How did your feelings towards Richard change over the course of the story? Did you feel sympathy towards him – and did you think Gigi should go back to him, or not?
Secrets are another key theme of the novel. Consider the effect that keeping or sharing these secrets has on the characters.
The difficulties of seeing a loved one suffer from dementia are an important part of the story. Do you think the message is ultimately that we should learn more about our loved ones before it’s too late – or that no matter what, we’ll always feel robbed of time?
What parallels can you see between Iris’s relationships as a young woman, and Tess’s? What roles do Wilf and Olly play in their lives?
Do you agree with Wilf’s entreaty to Iris – that ‘love is the simplest thing in the world’? How do the relationships in the novel support or contradict this statement?
Acknowledgements
This book has been a very, very long time coming, and I need to thank everyone at Michael Joseph for their tremendous patience and understanding. In particular, I am grateful to the deeply kind and clever Louise Moore, who refused to give up on me, even when I had absolutely given up on myself. Thank you to Maxine Hitchcock and Tilda McDonald for your sensitive and insightful editing and warm support, and to Donna Poppy for your painstaking work on the manuscript: it is a better novel because you have all been involved. To Nick Lowndes, Jenny Platt, Ellie Hughes and all of the brilliant and talented Penguins – thank you for your efforts.
I am thankful, as always, to Jonathan Lloyd and his team at Curtis Brown for everything that they do.
And finally, to friends and family who have believed in my ability to write again and told me so – you may not quite understand how important you have been. And to you, Dave, Tallulah and Ottilie, for bringing the joy. I am inordinately proud of the three of you, and I love you all more than I can say.
THE BEGINNING
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PENGUIN BOOKS
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First published by Michael Joseph as Letters to Iris 2018
Published in Penguin Books 2018
Copyright © Elizabeth Noble, 2018
The moral right of the author has been asserted
© Arcangel Images and © Trevillion Images
The publisher is grateful for permission to reproduce an extract from The Life That I Have by Leo Marks (copyright © Souvenir Press Ltd, 1999), reprinted here by permission of Souvenir Press Ltd.
ISBN: 978-0-241-39210-2
Love, Iris Page 40
