Their mother died of Cancer at a young age - and their father was a run-away parent - physically and emotionally. Children threaded tactfully through the adults’ solemnity; patches of sunshine bloomed and withdrew on the floor tiles like tentative reassurances.” Tessa Hadley has become one of this country's great contemporary novelists. She is equipped with an armoury of techniques and skills that may yet secure her a position as the greatest of them." - The Guardian (London)

How do you help a friend who is grieving the death of her husband when you, too, are grieving the death of a cherished friend? What words can convey support while not focusing too heavily on your own loss? Alex and Christine feel unmoored, as if a part of them has died, as jovial, big-hearted, creative Zach always seemed to bring rationality and heart into their relationships with one another. Lydia is unsure of what to do—she is unable to tend to Zach's affairs, or even process the thought of being alone in their house without him. This is Hadley’s work too: “an urge to capture what is actual around me”. And it is work that, at first, led nowhere. Her first novel, Accidents in the Home, was not published until she was 46. For 20 years she weathered rejections (she winces in explanation for her vagueness about the precise number “about 14?”). “I was trying to write and failing catastrophically. It was a compulsion so insane… I did it badly, failed, longed to stop – but couldn’t. Every time I would give up for a bit and then this compulsion returned to write about everything I was seeing, feeling, watching – not just my own thoughts but what was out there. Our moment in Britain…” a b c d e f The Writers of Wales Database: Hadley, Tessa, Literature Wales, archived from the original on 6 March 2016 , retrieved 4 March 2016The plot revolves around two couples who are longtime close friends, Christine & Alex, Lydia & Zach. When Zach dies suddenly (this is not a spoiler, it's the inciting incident) it causes all the relationships to warp and wobble and waste in the most fascinating ways. In a sense this reminded me of another book I read recently - How It All Began by Penelope Lively. Both are full of the sort of events that threaten more significance than what actually happens, but both are focused on the psychology of the characters and their interactions, and in both cases I felt that the writer liked her characters too much to do anything very nasty to them. a b c Angelique Chrisafis (29 August 2002), "Men outnumbered on novel prize longlist", The Guardian , retrieved 4 March 2016 The structure is what makes this a particularly brilliant book. Hadley reveals history with the most impactful timing, giving context which, at turns, explains, or even upends your original understanding. As a writer, I really appreciate how important this timing is; the "when" the author chooses to reveal certain information to the reader can alter the entire book.

Tessa Hadley is undoubtedly a master of her craft. The writing, in Late in the Day, is consistently measured, observant, beautiful and stark. In part, this is what made this a challenging read for me. Late in the Day is very much a novel of the everyday. Although hinged on significant moments, or turning points, much of the substance of this novel is ordinary lived experience. In that sense, this is a slow read, but ultimately I found myself propelled by the power of Hadley's skill with the written word, and insight into human nature. Only 3 adults jumped into bed together in Tessa Hadley’s novel. After all, what are good friends for - (also a 30 year friendship) - if not to comfort a cold grieving friend? It’s easy to understand why “Late in The Day”, by Tessa Hadley is being compared to “Crossing to Safety”, though.Elegant, witty, understated, quiet” are adjectives I’d use to describe author Tessa Hadley’s writing. I read “The Past” for the pure pleasure of reading. It’s a novel that one wants to reread passages because the writing is so elegant. There are shades of Woolf’s To The Lighthouse in the ebb and flows, but for me it’s not in that league, although it held my interest and I enjoyed it. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2009 [11] and is also a Fellow of The Welsh Academy. [12] She is the chair of the New Welsh Review 's editorial board. [4] [6] She has served as a judge for the International Dublin Literary Award (2011), [13] BBC National Short Story Award (2011), [14] O. Henry Prize for short stories (2015) [15] and the Wellcome Book Prize (2016). [16] Fiction [ edit ] Not much happens in this sixth novel from Hadley ( Clever Girl), yet even its most quotidian events seem bathed in meaning and consequence... This is familial drama at its best - unabashedly ordinary yet undoubtedly captivating." - Publishers Weekly Winner: Rose Tremain, Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, archived from the original on 6 March 2016 , retrieved 4 March 2016

Otherwise the very well-written story, perhaps a little character-driven and only hot on stream of consciousness movement, did manage to tell the story of a ordinary British family struggling with life's challenges and the memories of the life they used to enjoy and love. It was like being nostalgic again about a landscape in which they could not embed themselves again as participants in it. They were out of it for too many years. The three sisters were like a seraglio of Fate. So the same, yet so different, with a bond that eventually would prove to be stronger than destiny. Their last reunion in the old home, being a typical British pastoral as pastiche, brought more than just a last effort to be a united family, drenched in old traditions and values.I honestly don't know what more readers of literary fiction could possibly want, than what Tessa Hadley has done here. From novels about parenting to making love last, here are some great reads to accompany our forties Another work of quiet brilliance by Hadley! As Ron Charles, book editor of The Washington Post, says in his review “The Past” is one of those books that withers in summary. It is hard to describe this and other Hadley novels and stories without them sounding a little like watching paint drying. But in The Past, Hadley captures with beautiful words the story of a reunion of four adult siblings, two children and a couple of teenagers, at their ancestral home of their Grandparents. Will the 3-week holiday they've decided on be the last time they gather here? They have come together to ultimately decide whether it's time to sell the house that stands empty, used only for holidays.