Call number
FIC LIV
Collection
Genres
Publication
Harper (1999), Edition: 1st U.S. ed, 217 pages
Description
All her life Stella Brentwood has considered herself a bird of passage. She has known love, but she remains alone by choice and chance. Now retired, she has decided to root herself in the Somerset landscape. The hamlet that is now her home proves itself deceptive - an apparently tranquil backwater where tensions within a dysfunctional family build to a destructive climax.
User reviews
LibraryThing member LaurieRKing
Perfect novels, all of them. Just perfect. (This is one of my favorite book covers of all time.)
LibraryThing member oldblack
Not a bad book, but not one of the greats. The characters were a little too much like caricatures rather than showing much depth, especially those who weren't the main character. However, there was some attempt made to explore the issue of what our roles are in the world and how "retirement" and
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older age affects how we see ourselves. Show Less
LibraryThing member michalsuz
A well-crafted novel. I liked the psychological reality of the people, they made sense and were consistent with themselves, or one could see it in a different way and say, mostly trapped within their way of being, unable to do anything different. Only the main character tries something new, and is
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punished for it. There are intimations of danger for her all along, which create a good tension in the story, but the actual harm comes only indirectly. Understated and sparely written. Its main weakness is in its unsurprising language - almost at risk of falling into cliche at times. Show Less
LibraryThing member nocto
Not very fulfilling and left me disappointed and wanting it to have been better. The basic story is that a social anthropologist, used to travelling the world and researching community life on far flung shores, retires to rural Somerset and finds it just as interesting/researchable/odd as the other
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places she's been. Except it gets side tracked into the story of the family next door which is potentially a more interesting tale but all told a bit superficially. Show Less
LibraryThing member KayCliff
Basically about a retired woman anthropologist, unmarried, who comes to
live in a Somerset village. There are many flashbacks, in particular to her
career in anthropology, and the contrast between living in the communities that were her fieldwork and the Somerset community. There are also flashbacks
of woman undergraduates at Oxford, man-hunting - one of whom deliberately chooses her essay subject in order to be able to use the library where the student she fancies will go.
All themes also treated by Barbara Pym.
live in a Somerset village. There are many flashbacks, in particular to her
career in anthropology, and the contrast between living in the communities that were her fieldwork and the Somerset community. There are also flashbacks
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to the heroine and her best friend as a pairof woman undergraduates at Oxford, man-hunting - one of whom deliberately chooses her essay subject in order to be able to use the library where the student she fancies will go.
All themes also treated by Barbara Pym.
Show Less
LibraryThing member SandyAMcPherson
Discerning view of life in a small Somerset village. Retired academic chooses to ruralize and ends up somewhat cut adrift, having to fit into some dysfunctional village lives. Very strange choice for a retirée who had travelled extensively and enjoyed (apparently) a respected career. Perhaps there
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was a context that I didn't quite grasp. Was Penelope Lively illustrating what it is like to age and have to change societies as you grow older? Show Less
LibraryThing member lauralkeet
Stella is recently retired from her career as an anthropologist, in which she studied societies both in the UK and in more “exotic” climes. When she moves to a cottage in a rural village, she can’t help analyzing the people and their social norms. She learns a great deal through casual
Stella’s memories -- of the time at university with Nadine, her career, and romantic relationships -- often occupy her thoughts, and serve to fully develop Stella’s character. The narrative also shifts periodically to the family down the lane, and a situation that is clearly escalating behind closed doors. The problem is, the reader can see what’s coming, which lessens the dramatic effect of the event when it occurs. Penelope Lively is best at character development and creating complex linkages between characters and events. There’s just not enough of that in this novel. It’s a good solid read, but not exceptional.
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conversation with the shop owner and the postman, and has ample opportunity to observe the troubled family that lives just down the lane. Richard, the widowed husband of her university friend Nadine, lives nearby. He seeks her company and offers unsolicited advice about assimilating into the community, but Stella is fiercely independent and keeps him at arm’s length. Not surprisingly, she remains somewhat apart from village life. Stella’s memories -- of the time at university with Nadine, her career, and romantic relationships -- often occupy her thoughts, and serve to fully develop Stella’s character. The narrative also shifts periodically to the family down the lane, and a situation that is clearly escalating behind closed doors. The problem is, the reader can see what’s coming, which lessens the dramatic effect of the event when it occurs. Penelope Lively is best at character development and creating complex linkages between characters and events. There’s just not enough of that in this novel. It’s a good solid read, but not exceptional.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Oliverbillie
A delightful surprise. A very clever book. Excellent.
Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2000)
Pages
217
ISBN
006019233X / 9780060192334