Barbara Mutch - The Housemaid's Daughter - Headline
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    • ISBN:9780755392124
    • Publication date:03 Jan 2013
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    • ISBN:9780755392117
    • Publication date:02 Aug 2012

The Housemaid's Daughter

By Barbara Mutch

  • Hardback

  • £16.99

A South African THE HELP, THE HOUSEMAID'S DAUGHTER is a startling and thought-provoking debut novel which intricately portrays the drama, dynamics and heartbreak of two women against the backdrop of a beautiful yet divided land.

Duty and love collide on the arid plains of central South Africa. Previously released as 'Karoo Plainsong' this is a fully revised debut novel.



Cathleen Harrington leaves her home in Ireland in 1919 to travel to South Africa and marry the fiance she has not seen for five years. Isolated and estranged in a harsh landscape, she finds solace in her diary and the friendship of her housemaid's daughter, Ada. Cathleen recognises in her someone she can love and respond to in a way that she cannot with her own husband and daughter. Under Cathleen's tutelage, Ada grows into an accomplished pianist, and a reader who cannot resist turning the pages of the diary, discovering the secrets Cathleen sought to hide.



When Ada is compromised and finds she is expecting a mixed-race child, she flees her home, determined to spare Cathleen the knowledge of her betrayal, and the disgrace that would descend upon the family. Scorned within her own community, Ada is forced to carve a life for herself, her child, and her music. But Cathleen still believes in Ada, and risks the constraints of apartheid to search for her and persuade her to return with her daughter. Beyond the cruelty, there is love, hope - and redemption.

  • Other details

  • ISBN: 9780755392094
  • Publication date: 02 Aug 2012
  • Page count: 416
Biographical Notes

Barbara Mutch is South African by birth and currently lives in Surrey but returns to South Africa every year. THE HOUSEMAID'S DAUGHTER is her first novel.

'If you love last summer's THE HELP, try the HOUSEMAID'S DAUGHTER by Barbara Mutch... The friendship at its centre will leave your singing.'

— Good Reads

'This debut novel has echoes of Kathryn Stockett's THE HELP and is equally compelling... Ada's story is both an enjoyable and a very moving one, told with sensitivity and feeling.'

— Welovethisbook.com
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Barbara Mutch

Barbara Mutch is South African by birth and currently lives in Surrey but returns to South Africa every year. THE HOUSEMAID'S DAUGHTER is her first novel.

By Barbara Mutch

Where I like to write...

Barbara Mutch's debut novel THE HOUSEMAID'S DAUGHTER is set in the heat of South Africa in 1919. But where does Barbara sit down to write?

The Housemaid's Daughter - Barbara Mutch

Trailer

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The Housemaid's Daughter - Trailer

Barbara Mutch

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The Housemaid's Daughter

Barbara Mutch talks about her new novel

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The Housemaid's Daughter

Barbara Mutch talks about her new novel

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The Housemaid's Daughter

Barbara Mutch talks about her new novel

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After a mere 10 days based on the 11th floor of 338 Euston Road, I was off on my first trip – the Jonathan Ball sales conference in South Africa. After manically trying to memorise the Headline list and get a grasp of what worked and what didn’t I was off. No sooner had I landed, then my presentation had begun. It started in a slightly different way to other presentations I had done – with a musical interlude, courtesy of Frederic Chopin. His 'Raindrop' prelude is an integral part of Barbara Mutch's new novel, The Housemaid's Daughter, and to give everyone a taste of what this fabulous novel was really about I wanted to set the mood (which was vital considering the book's setting and the author's heritage!). It worked a treat and the novel went down a storm with booksellers. Boom. I was back in London and after what felt like 5 minutes (but which was actually 6 days) myself and the rest of the team were at Earl’s Court for the London Book Fair. I rarely remember anything about fairs – they are one long stream of appointments, one merging into another – but looking back I do remember something – Underwater Dogs! With buckets of enthusiasm we managed to squeeze this title (despite some very bemused looks) into the European wholesaler catalogues. Over three and a half thousand hardbacks in Europe later, those bemused faces are now beaming! In September, Europe beckoned. The train from Milan to Bern to Zurich to Stuttgart was an incredibly pleasant one and took me back to my college days. The 2013 Headline fiction list went down a storm with many customers reporting it as the strongest ever line up. I certainly agree. Our exciting new Tinder Press titles got everyone's pulses racing. After some tasty fiction successes in 2012 (I need to mention Shadow of Night here, Deborah Harkness' fantastic follow up to the international bestselling A Discovery of Witches which sold like the clappers in Europe last year), people definitely take note when Headline fiction is being talked about. After a quick reshuffle of our department, I wasn't heading back to South Africa towards the end of the year, but instead off to India for the first time. I wasn't sure what to expect but what I did notice was the greenery! It’s an odd thing to notice I know, but being a country girl maybe not surprising. Also, the food was spicy. I know – my observation may not set the world alight but there's spice and then there's Indian spice. If you know what's good for you then you won't get the two mixed up. Next year will be an exciting year for India. Not only will we have book 5 of the bestselling Empire of the Moghul series but also the long awaited novel from Lavanya Sankaran, The Hope Factory. It’s a good time to have taken over India if these books are anything to go by. So, all in all, a busy year; lots of travels, lots of books and lots more exciting new stories to tell... the ones I can remember anyway.

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