The Flowering Thorn

by Margery Sharp

First published 1934

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4.2(881)

In London in 1929, twenty-eight-year-old Lesley Frewen lives comfortably among parties, art and fashionable friends. When her aunt’s companion dies and leaves a four-year-old son, Lesley impulsively adopts Patrick without any established desire for children or understanding of the practical demands of raising one.

After discovering that London and her social life cannot provide Patrick with stability, Lesley moves to the village of High Westover. Rural routine, responsibility and affection gradually alter her priorities. The novel follows a woman who begins motherhood as an experiment and learns the difference between the pleasures she can purchase and the happiness created through sustained care.