''Jigsaw: An Unsentimental Education'' is a 1989 semi-

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Bec ...

by Sybille Bedford. It shortlisted for the Booker Prize that year. In many ways a follow-up to her earlier work, '' A Legacy'', it is the story of a girl called Billi as she grows up and experiences sexual, intellectual and emotional awakenings. When Billi's father dies, she leaves behind her childhood in Germany for life with her morphine-addicted mother on the French Riviera. The novel met with great acclaim when it was published, and

Victoria Glendinning Victoria Glendinning (''née'' Seebohm; born 23 April 1937) is a British biographer, critic, broadcaster and novelist. She is an Honorary Vice-President of English PEN and Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature. She won the James Tait ...

and

Roger Kimball Roger Kimball (born 1953) is an American art critic and conservative social commentator. He is the editor and publisher of ''The New Criterion'' and the publisher of Encounter Books. Kimball first gained notice in the early 1990s with the public ...

both cite it as evidence of Bedford's underrated brilliance. It was republished by Eland in 2005, and released in a new edition by Eland in 2012.

References

1989 British novels Novels set in France Hamish Hamilton books Eland Books books NYRB Classics {{1980s-novel-stub