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3.98 AVERAGE
3.98 AVERAGE
Lady Slane is released from a lifetime of feeling trapped in conventional society, whilst always wishing she could have been an artist of importance, by the death of her husband. After the funeral she makes the decision to isolate herself (and her French ladies maid) in a rented house in Hampshire. She bans her grandchildren and great grandchildren from visiting, her children - mainly egotistic, self centred, chips of Lord Slade's block make no real effort to keep in touch. Lady Slade establishes friendships with her landlord, her builder and an old acquaintance. This is a beautifully written classic novel, short but powerfully written. The only problem is that all the Maid's dialogue is written in French the idea of what she is saying can in the main be interpreted but some remains unknown.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
88 year old Lady Slane can, at last, become her true self when her husband (ex Viceroy of India, ex PM) dies. Instead of being prostrate with helplessness and grief, she rejects her patronising children's efforts to manage her and sets off on a small late life adventure of independence.
A subtle invective against Victorian values, being old, being a woman and frustrated dreams (albeit from a moneyed perspective!)
A really "good read"
A subtle invective against Victorian values, being old, being a woman and frustrated dreams (albeit from a moneyed perspective!)
A really "good read"
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not my favorite book. I suspect someday I'll forget I ever read it.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Interesting comment on the choices we make and the choices we have. Inspiring in making the best of a situation while retaining a distance that allows self reflection. Some rather nicely drawn characters- the ghastly children the philosophical landlord- there could be a bit more depth to some of the less central characters. Quite a lot of French it is assumed the reader will understand. Also interesting insights into relations between a rich lady and her servant revealing an asymmetry the lady protagonist seems for a ling rime to not notice. To modern eyes a bit jarring. The central situation appears dated - but is it really? Nice satisfying ending.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My adoration of Vita is no secret.
And my love for her dims not. Her wit and inventiveness, both strong in All Passions Spent, tend to be slightly overshadowed by her tenderness and a certain kind of brutality that she slowly unwinds simultaneously in a tale that takes a dig at the social conventions that threatened to suffocate and consume women of the era and examining how well we truly know those closest to us and at times, indeed, even ourselves.
When the enigmatic Lord Henry Sloan (former Prime Minister and Viceroy of India) takes his final breath, the couples six children descend on their home in an effort to protect and manage their mother in her final days. Lady Sloan, however, has other plans. What happens next makes for a bemusing tale. One can't help but feel elated at Lady Sloan's ability to irritate and confound her children. For once, mistress of her own destiny, Lady Sloan opts to live her days alone with a small cast of eccentric and peculiar companions that bring a richness to her life that she had been craving for years.
It's refreshing to read about a protagonist living out the final scenes of her life. So much of life is focused on youth. But as Mr. FitzGeorge notes on p122 "the face of youth is an unwritten page", but an old face, an old face is full of the richness of life and there is a beauty in the stories it can tell that the youthful have not yet attained.
Vita's disdain for convention is well known. So it's no surprise that All Passion Spent is a cautionary tale of the dangers of allowing others to assume they know you, to allow them to take the drivers wheel and navigate the route of your life. The wastefulness of being the supporting role in your own tale instead of the heroine. But all is not lost. It is never too late to pull over and demand to take back the wheel.
The conflict is in the subjugation, the hope is in the casting off of the shackles, the tragedy is not doing so sooner.
Lady Sloan dies reasonably content. She has lived a life, not always entirely her own, but one that at it's end is entirely hers.
There is a lot of food for thought here. The wonder of how well do we really know those closest to us? How well do we really know ourselves? And what if we came to the closing chapters of our own lives to discover all our passions were spent on others with nothing left for ourselves?
And my love for her dims not. Her wit and inventiveness, both strong in All Passions Spent, tend to be slightly overshadowed by her tenderness and a certain kind of brutality that she slowly unwinds simultaneously in a tale that takes a dig at the social conventions that threatened to suffocate and consume women of the era and examining how well we truly know those closest to us and at times, indeed, even ourselves.
When the enigmatic Lord Henry Sloan (former Prime Minister and Viceroy of India) takes his final breath, the couples six children descend on their home in an effort to protect and manage their mother in her final days. Lady Sloan, however, has other plans. What happens next makes for a bemusing tale. One can't help but feel elated at Lady Sloan's ability to irritate and confound her children. For once, mistress of her own destiny, Lady Sloan opts to live her days alone with a small cast of eccentric and peculiar companions that bring a richness to her life that she had been craving for years.
It's refreshing to read about a protagonist living out the final scenes of her life. So much of life is focused on youth. But as Mr. FitzGeorge notes on p122 "the face of youth is an unwritten page", but an old face, an old face is full of the richness of life and there is a beauty in the stories it can tell that the youthful have not yet attained.
Vita's disdain for convention is well known. So it's no surprise that All Passion Spent is a cautionary tale of the dangers of allowing others to assume they know you, to allow them to take the drivers wheel and navigate the route of your life. The wastefulness of being the supporting role in your own tale instead of the heroine. But all is not lost. It is never too late to pull over and demand to take back the wheel.
The conflict is in the subjugation, the hope is in the casting off of the shackles, the tragedy is not doing so sooner.
Lady Sloan dies reasonably content. She has lived a life, not always entirely her own, but one that at it's end is entirely hers.
There is a lot of food for thought here. The wonder of how well do we really know those closest to us? How well do we really know ourselves? And what if we came to the closing chapters of our own lives to discover all our passions were spent on others with nothing left for ourselves?