Jill

Jill is Philip Larkin’s first novel, originally published in 1946. A subtle and moving account of a young English undergraduate from the provinces, this portrait of Oxford during the war is now regarded by many critics as a classic of its kind.

Michaelmas term, 1940. 18-year-old John Kemp has come down from Lan-cashire to Oxford University to begin his scholarship studying English. But when he invents an imaginary sister to win the attention of a rich but unre-liable ‘friend’, and then falls in love for real, undergraduate life becomes its own strange world.

‘Absolutely contemporary – perhaps even prophetic.’ – Joyce Carol Oates

‘Remarkable . A book about innocence.’ – Simon Garfield

‘A cryptic literary manifesto [about] discovering a literary personality, and the consolation art can provide.’ – Andrew Motion

Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Imprint: Faber & Faber
Publication date: 03/03/2005