It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
Girl From The South

Girl From The South

a compelling novel about the changing rules and requirements of modern affairs of the heart from one of Britain’s best loved authors, Joanna Trollope

Summary

Multi-million copy bestselling author Joanna Trollope's sharp eye for family relationships and the intricacies of being human will appeal to readers of Erica James, Elizabeth Noble and Amanda Prowse. Full of her customary wit and wonderfully sharp characterisation, Girl from the South is an enthralling novel you won't be able to put down.

'She writes so beautifully...' -- Evening Standard
'Joanna Trollope is a wonderful novelist of domestic detail... Girl From the South is, like all her books, a really good read, spiked with insight' -- Observer
'Finely-observed family tensions' -- Sunday Mirror
'At the heart of Trollope's tightly written, acutely observed novel is what it means to be a family' -- New Statesman
'Couldn't stop reading it' -- ***** Reader review
'[I] was really sorry to get to the end of it' -- ***** Reader review
'Absorbing. Loved it' -- ***** Reader review
'A must read' -- ***** Reader review
*****
CAN LONG-TERM HOPES AND DREAMS HOLD FAST IN THE FACE OF AN EXOTIC WIND OF CHANGE?

Gillon - red-haired, intelligent, vulnerable - comes to London to escape from the demands of her wealthy, conventional, socially superior family in Charleston, South Carolina. An art historian, she has a chance meeting with Tilly, whose long-term boyfriend Henry is a wildlife photographer who is finding it hard to commit.

Before long Gillon has moved into their flat, replacing Henry's old mate William, William's on-off-girlfriend Susie, and a lots of mess and disorganisation. Things are changing, and Tilly finds it difficult to accept that her dreams of settling down with Henry are receding further into the distance, especially when Henry announces that he is going to South Carolina to photograph the abundant wildlife of the area.

There, Henry is wholly seduced by the charms of Charleston, by Gillon's family, and by the old patrician way of life which presents itself. The rules seem to be changing, the time passing by, and the future is becoming less and less certain...

Reviews

  • She writes so beautifully... in a style so graceful and judicious that you would call it restful if it were not also palpably intelligent
    Evening Standard

About the author

Joanna Trollope

Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more