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Once a model and now a mother of two small children, Emma has little life of her own.When her husband David is invited to star in two plays in Hereford and Emma is obliged to leave her beloved London and join him, the resentment begins to surface.Emma remains unmoved by the local scenic beauty, becomes mildly irritated by the egocentric actors she meets and is frequently furious with the conceit of her arrogant but talented husband. So what sparks off her liaison with director Wyndham Farrar? Attraction? Loneliness? The desire for romance? Or sheer, unadulterated revenge?And are any of these forces powerful enough to sustain such an affair?'There are many writers with a good eye and almost as many with a good ear- very few are as well endowed with both as she is' - Sunday Telegraph… (more)
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My preference is for stories with likeable
The narrator's voice feels very authentic, it is so well written. My entire time reading this I felt like I was inside of Emma's head looking at herself and the world around her. There are a few parts that felt a little tedious, but I think that would be expected in such a navel-gazing opus like this.
The end is a little unsatisfying, maybe a little weak in the wrap up. The story ran out of steam despite several events in the final pages. I can picture the author saying "Let's get this done."
I was really surprised to see that this was first published in 1964. It has a modern feel, although at first glance the somewhat "obedient wife" bit does feel dated to the early 60's. Or maybe not, because she has little choice it seems when her husband springs the move on her and the situation of moving away for a job for one partner in a relationship happens as much today as 50 years ago.
I'll read more of Drabble when I want a biting look at something! I very much enjoyed reading this one. Recommended.
A wonderfully ironic look at the inequality of the sexes and the dullness of parenthood and provincial England in the early 1960s, where even the inevitable backstage adultery turns into something very like a tedious social obligation. And full of witty portraits of the kind of people who were creating big egos for themselves in the English theatre of those days. But perhaps slightly undermined by Emma's rather privileged situation and her snooty contempt for anything outside London. There were a lot of young mothers of her generation for whom the prospect of an au pair to help with the kids and give them time to go out to first-nights sometimes would have seemed like a remote dream...
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Omslaget viser en ung kvinde, der lugter til en afskåret rose
Indskannet omslag - N650U - 150 dpi
Gave fra Kim
Subject er Romanai, anglų som vist er litauisk for engelsk roman
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813 |