This novel is set in present day London. Though fairly short at 229 pages, it is ambitiously complex, juggling subplots starring seven principle characters. We begin at “the pavement rises up and hits her,” as elderly, widowed Charlotte is knocked to the ground in a mugging, breaking her hip. The...
I read a book by this author as a book club read and wasn't thrilled. I then heard her talk about this book on NPR and was intrigued. I love this lady and would love to buy her tea and just listen to her talk. This isn't an exciting page turner, but a thoughtful mental journey through her life...
I have come to believe that anything Penelope Lively has written is well worth reading. Even though fiction is more my line than autobiography, this memoir tackles the pertinent questions of memory, reading and objects. The penultimate sentence -- "There is a further dimension to memory; it is no...
*** THIS REVIEW IS FULL OF SPOILERS ***The Photograph was one of those books that initially it may appear to be somewhat dull and boring, but what a great read it turned out to be. Penelope does a great character study of Kath and the impact that those around her had on her life. In the process...
"Making It Up" would be a great book choice for a long weekend at the cabin. The short story format (8 in all) makes book easy to pick up and set down (and think about, and re-read, and then come back again...). My favorites of the series:(1) The Mozambique Channel (About falling in love on a s...
Consequences: Something Logical or Naturally That Follows, 28 Jul 2007 4.5 stars "Consequences: Something that logically or naturally follows from an action or condition. The relation of a result to its cause. A logical conclusion or inference." Dictonarly.com "The women are buffeted by events bu...
I don't understand why this book does not appear in toplists. Agreed, it was awarded the Bookerprice in 1987 (before the great hypes), but seems to be forgotten since, whilst according to me it really is a pearl.Maybe it is because the story appears to be a kind of pulp fiction: that of a remarka...
Mark Lamming è un biografo, carriera che non gli garantisce la stabilità economica ma che soddisfa le sue ambizioni letterarie. Anche nella vita privata non può che ritenersi appagato: sposato con la bella e intelligente Diana, che lavora in una galleria d'arte e lo bilancia con il suo carattere ...
"At age sixty-five, retired anthropologist Stella Brentwood buys a cottage in Somerset, England, and slowly acquires neighbors, a dog, and a professional curiosity about the country village where she intends to settle and put down roots for the first time. She has spent her life studying communi...
"Judgment Day takes us into the life of Clare Paling, who has just moved with her family to Laddenham, a seemingly drowsy village enlivened by sideshows of adultery and gossip. An avowed agnostic who has a preoccupation with the savagery of fate, Clare is nonetheless caught up in the restoration...
"Happiness, of course, is forever bound to place, to the physical world. We are never happy now, only then. Walking then on a Dorset hill, wind lifting the hair, and a hand, suddenly, on one's back ...Sunlight sifting down through the apple tree in the garden of Pulborough, lying like coins amon...