A review by foggy_rosamund
The Weather in the Streets by Carmen Callil, Rosamond Lehmann

4.0

Oh, I hate this book. It is set in 1930s Britain; the main character, Olivia, is a young, sensitive woman, recently separated from her husband. She falls in love with a married man. I hate the premise: that Olivia gives herself over so utterly to this man, that she is in his thrall, and that she forgives him everything. He talks to her patronisingly, dotingly, like she is his pet. I hate that when she becomes pregnant, she consider it to be solely her problem, and cannot ask his advice or help. I hate how utterly alone she is, how the affair makes her isolated and unloved. And I hate that Lehmann writes so well that I could't think of anything while I was reading this book other than Olivia's story and what would become of her. Olivia is an utterly real, believable character. Lehmann's prose is completely compelling: evocative, energetic, original. She uses very stylish, competent mid-century prose much of the time, but occasionally travels into modernist first-person narrative, and it's very effective. The reader feels surprised by the narrative, but is never thrown out of it. I was so upset while I was reading this, because I hate the awful subjugation Olivia faces, but I was also endlessly impressed by Lehmann's mastery of prose, her creation of character, and her convincing plot.

I don't know whether I'd recommend this or not, tbh. If you're like me, you'll be furious. Note: this is a sequel to Invitation to the Waltz, which I did not know when I began reading it, but didn't seem to have any impact on my enjoyment of the narrative.