Don't Ask Me Why - Tapa blanda

'A serious and reflective novel of friendship and growing up... Don't Ask Me Why is deceptive. In one sense, it is a love story, for the passionately empathetic but non-sexual and enduring bond between two people is love. A quietly unfrilly, discursive narrative masks an intensely felt rendering of that mix of hormones, yearning and rapturous response peculiar to youth: feelings which are sometimes so intense that life proves impossible thereafter... the novel has a hypnotic quality and an aching sadness and wisdom that all will recognise. It is very good' Elizabeth Buchan, The Times 'Kindersley's eulogy to lost youth... the tragedy that ultimately strikes plunges them into a realm that is painfully real' Express 'Tania Kindersley hits the nail on the head with her latest novel, a detailed account of university life. It is the perfect read for a first time student, or a graduate who wishes to be reminded of their first steps into the 'real world'... A poignant look at real friendship, first love and loss' Yorkshire Evening Press 'A cool, class-act tale about female friendship' She 'Love, lust, dreams and the meaning of friendship are woven into a sensitive, tragic tale... All becomes clear and worth it in the end. And, like Kindersley's last novel, it's hauntingly written' Company 'The follow-up to Kindersley's mega-hit, Goodbye, Johnny Thunders' New Woman 'Kindersley's language is acute, discomforting and scalpel-sharp' Independent 'Kindersley has a very lucid, almost aphoristic style of writing... A sincere, revelatory novel'Examiner (Ireland) 'This is the kind of novel you either love or hate. I loved it, stayed up all night reading it, and was bereft when it was finished. Tania Kindersley, author of last year's terrific GOODBYE, JOHNNY THUNDERS, is getting terrifyingly close to peak performance for someone not yet 30, still writing what might be deescribed as rites-of-passage novels. Ignoring every literary fad and fashion, she simmers with verve, style and understated emotion... Totally out of step with '90s kitchen sink, victim novels, this one is as delightfully dry as Chablis, delectably elegant. It marinates in the mind for ages, refreshes the spirit and is best savoured in small sips, because it's vintage, limited-edition stuff' Evening Herald (Ireland) 'Achingly nostalgic, the author conveys the rapture and yearning of youth - and the anguish of bidding it farewell' Mail on Sunday (Elizabeth Buchan) 'Eloquent, witty tale of college sex, friendships and bust-ups' Marie-Claire 'This book works as an Oxbridge novel - which, highly unusually, portrays a mixed university where students acutally work - as a lament for a youth we all thought would never pass, and as an exploration of friendship. It is quite brilliant' Daily Telegraph 'A well-written, sharply observed love story about a passionate friendship between two women...a good weepy' Sunday Express 'The novel has heart' The Sunday Times

When Ashley meets Virge at a ghastly teenage ball just before she goes to Oxford she knows she has found a soul mate. Virge and her brother Michael are the people everyone wants to be friends with - beautiful, funny and gay (Michael at least). But when they leave Oxford it all seems to go wrong.