The Clothes on Their Backs

Plot summary

A quiet, sensitive girl who loves to read grows up in a very quiet environment. Vivien Kovacs is raised by Hungarian parents who have been quite silenced by the war and thus she seems to be removed from both the past and present. So she uses her books to reinvent herself through her favorite characters. That is, until Uncle Sandor appears on the scene.

This uncle comes clad in a diamond watch, mohair suit and accompanied by a girl wearing a leopard-skin hat. He wants to share his life story with Vivien, telling her all about her family’s past. Vivien’s parents do not take well to this intruder. But Vivien wants to know why.

That is just the plot. Throughout the pages the readers learn about heroism, survival and betrayals and how our clothes define our personalities.

Themes

Major themes in The Clothes on Their Back – set in 1970s London – are survival and betrayal, post-war, childhood and becoming the person we all need to become. Survival takes on many forms, including childhood, dealing with parents who are trying to survive the trauma of post-war.

Awards

The Clothes on Their Backs received the Orange Prize and was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker prize.

Acclaim

Grant’s writing in this book has been described as “spectacularly humanizing.” She writes in “vivid and supple prose [creating] a powerful story of family, love, and the hold the past has on the present."

According to a review in The Observer, “There is nothing lightweight about its themes and yet it is so artfully constructed that you barely feel you're reading it at all, so fluid and addictive is the plot.” The Evening Standard described the book as being: "Gripping and written with keen understatement, it manages to be a domestic coming-of-age story even as it takes in the tumultuous sweep of the twentieth century.” A review in The Sunday Telegraph said: "Like money, clothes have real, symbolic and psychological value. Linda Grant understands these dimensions implicitly. Stitched beautifully into the fabric of her latest novel is an acute understanding of the role clothes play in reflecting identity and self-worth.... Grant's own particular beam reveals the way we acquire our sense of self from what gets reflected back to us, either in the mirror or in our relationships with others. She is at home writing about the thrilling ripple of a skirt as she is charting social tensions.”

The Sunday Times wrote: “We are what we wear because clothes reveal our personalities but, as Grant makes clear as she guides us through a dizzying ethical maze, they also conceal them....In this meticulously textured and complex novel, beneath Grant's surface dressing, what she is talking about is more than skin deep.” The Independent declared it: “A beautifully detailed character study, a poignant family history, and a richly evocative portrait...” The Telegraph said: “This vivid, enjoyable and consistently unexpected novel is like Anita Brookner with sex. Sándor's mix of the endearing and the repellent takes on a life beyond that of an absorbing and unexpectedly ambitious story.” The Mail on Sunday called it: “a terrific novel, bursting with life and vivid characters.” Maggie Perkovic said it was: “A very good read.” According to The Sunday Express, “If you read only one novel this year, make sure it is The Clothes on Their Backs.” The Express said it was: “a beautifully written and truly moving book about the experience of growing up in Britain as a second generation immigrant.” And The London Paper said: “It's a sublimely atmospheric and moving novel.”