A review by jomat
A View Of The Harbour: A Virago Modern Classic by Sarah Waters, Elizabeth Taylor

3.0

Descriptive in the writing and easy to picture characters and setting. I felt it was constantly tinged with sadness and dejection. Each character had something miserable in their outlooks, whether due to the effects of war losses or they were just miserable. Beth an author in the book spends all her time writing novels which seem to be filled with gloom. Her husband Robert, the local doctor feeling in,loved turns to the neighbour Tory who is still in love with her ex husband Teddy but is happy to enjoy Robert’s attention. His daughter Prudence who is depicted as being simple minded releases there is an affair going on and ignores her father as much as possible and is rude to Tory. Beth is seemingly oblivious to what is going on around her. Bertram, a visitor to the village paints pictures which don’t seem to be very good and he eventually decides to marry Tory, to which she agrees when she realises that Robert will not leave Beth. Mrs Bracey is the local gossip and she is bed ridden but that doesn’t stop her from making her daughters’ lives miserable, especially her eldest Maisie. Lily, a widow who runs the waxworks dislikes being on her own but is afraid to go out with anyone. Mrs Flintcroft has a nephew Eddy who is very attracted to Maisie, but when Mrs Bracey realises that she does all she can to keep them apart.

All in all a book about misery