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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a remarkable book . Written in 1938 on the verge of the second world war we are plunged into the middle of a story centered around a displaced teenager , innocent and friendless who fetched up at the home if her half brother and his wife in London .
This abrupt start sets the tone of the novel which forensically exposes the brittle emotional undercurrents if respectable well to do life in London where the adults hide behind a veneer of witty indifference and callous politeness . Portia , the teenager , is the product of an affair and her disgraced parents were banished from society and England to live a rootless existence in Europe . Her half brother is
This abrupt start sets the tone of the novel which forensically exposes the brittle emotional undercurrents if respectable well to do life in London where the adults hide behind a veneer of witty indifference and callous politeness . Portia , the teenager , is the product of an affair and her disgraced parents were banished from society and England to live a rootless existence in Europe . Her half brother is
I read this for a blog “read along”. Bowen is sometimes compared to Virginia Woolf, whom I like. But I found this book was a bit too finely wrought. Bowen has long passages explaining, “this is how one feels”, which irritated me. I could follow the story, but sometimes it was like the characters were speaking in code and I am still not exactly sure what happened when Portia goes to the seaside in the middle part of the book. The story centers on Portia, an orphaned, naive 16 year old who is sent to live with her half brother and his wife in London in the 1930’s. Neither the brother nor the sister-in-law particularly wants her around, and because Portia thinks and feels too much, she clings to anyone who shows her the slightest affection.
I had this book on my TBR shelf for nearly 2 years. I couldn't part with it without reading it, but I never claimed it for a weekend read. Instead, I decided to listen to it on audio. It was amazing!!!! The writing is fantastically detailed and the narrator brought the characters to life. I appreciated each perfect sentence uttered iin a British accent.
My heart broke over and over for Portia. Such a "sweet kid" as she was affectionately and derisively known by others. She was doing her best to make her way in an unfamiliar world, hoping for a semblance of a family. Instead, she too soon learns the reality of the falesness of adults and the limits of love. ( )
My heart broke over and over for Portia. Such a "sweet kid" as she was affectionately and derisively known by others. She was doing her best to make her way in an unfamiliar world, hoping for a semblance of a family. Instead, she too soon learns the reality of the falesness of adults and the limits of love. ( )
this is a troublesome book.
i am not completely clear of the happenings in their entirety, but i will say that it demanded things of me. and it most definitely forced me to a high level of alertness about the goings on behind goings on.
i am not completely clear of the happenings in their entirety, but i will say that it demanded things of me. and it most definitely forced me to a high level of alertness about the goings on behind goings on.
Sharp, clever, and restrained. Bowen deploys a variety of well-drawn characters, and keeps the direction of things consistently surprising even as she keeps the characters' actions true to their cores.
The last 20 pages really cinch the thing, too, though I'll say no more than that to avoid spoilers.
Highly recommended.
The last 20 pages really cinch the thing, too, though I'll say no more than that to avoid spoilers.
Highly recommended.
A dreary book. Her prose is not very polished. I guess it's good to know that even in the thirties teenage girls were emotional, hormonal messes?
I wrote about this book here: https://theblankgarden.wordpress.com/2016/04/29/their-victims-lie-strewn-all-round/