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Review
`Sparkly as a Babycham, dry as a Twiglet, and honest as a tinned pie - Janey James is the perfect hilarious, sexy, rude and clear-eyed guide to swinging London. I feel like I've been out on the tiles with her all night - and I'd happily do it all again.' -- Helen Cross
`A winning debut by Levene that's rich with period detail and packs a punch.' -- Marie Claire
`A delight - funny, sad and clever. For those of us who were young in the late fifties and early sixties, it's an uncanny evocation of our past. For today's young women, it will read like gender history - and I hope it makes their jaws drop.' -- Barbara Trapido
`I loved this book. It wonderfully evokes the essence of the 1960s.' -- Joan Collins
`If this debut novel were an item of clothing, it would be a sassy pencil skirt in nasturtium taffeta, wasp-waisted and exquisitely lined.'
-- Hephzibah Anderson,Daily Mail
`Hurray for A Vision of Loveliness, this week's Book at Bedtime, by Louise Levene, which is as light as a chocolate éclair . . . Perfect on period detail, the story is studded with quotes from Jane's etiquette bible, Lady Be Good, which is full of timeless gems.' -- Independent
`Louise Levine . . . is a zesty storyteller and a master of the needle-sharp one-liner.' -- Sunday Telegraph
`The novel draws you into a world of tawdry glamour: of members-only cabarets, mascara-streaked sheets, and mistress flats off Curzon Street. Gin and orange, anyone?' --Observer
`An exploration of a bygone era's underbelly' --Financial Times
`For all the froufrou and fetishistic fashion vernacular, A Vision of Loveliness is a pointed indictment of a sexist, small-minded society' --Sunday Telegraph
`Hogarth would have painted this heroine's progress just as unflinchingly'
--The Times
`Utterly compulsive ... Every page, every paragraph, sucks one back into a period with intensity far greater than that experienced when one was actually there ... This immensely readable book is so full of period atmosphere that reality actually pales when you put it down'
--Virginia Ironside, Independent --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
`A winning debut by Levene that's rich with period detail and packs a punch.' -- Marie Claire
`A delight - funny, sad and clever. For those of us who were young in the late fifties and early sixties, it's an uncanny evocation of our past. For today's young women, it will read like gender history - and I hope it makes their jaws drop.' -- Barbara Trapido
`I loved this book. It wonderfully evokes the essence of the 1960s.' -- Joan Collins
`If this debut novel were an item of clothing, it would be a sassy pencil skirt in nasturtium taffeta, wasp-waisted and exquisitely lined.'
-- Hephzibah Anderson,Daily Mail
`Hurray for A Vision of Loveliness, this week's Book at Bedtime, by Louise Levene, which is as light as a chocolate éclair . . . Perfect on period detail, the story is studded with quotes from Jane's etiquette bible, Lady Be Good, which is full of timeless gems.' -- Independent
`Louise Levine . . . is a zesty storyteller and a master of the needle-sharp one-liner.' -- Sunday Telegraph
`The novel draws you into a world of tawdry glamour: of members-only cabarets, mascara-streaked sheets, and mistress flats off Curzon Street. Gin and orange, anyone?' --Observer
`An exploration of a bygone era's underbelly' --Financial Times
`For all the froufrou and fetishistic fashion vernacular, A Vision of Loveliness is a pointed indictment of a sexist, small-minded society' --Sunday Telegraph
`Hogarth would have painted this heroine's progress just as unflinchingly'
--The Times
`Utterly compulsive ... Every page, every paragraph, sucks one back into a period with intensity far greater than that experienced when one was actually there ... This immensely readable book is so full of period atmosphere that reality actually pales when you put it down'
--Virginia Ironside, Independent --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Review
'I loved this book. It wonderfully evokes the essence of the 1960s' Joan Collins ' dark comedy that reveals the seedy underbelly of London in the 1960s... A winning debut by Levene that's rich with period detail and packs a punch' Marie Claire 'Biting social satire, drenched in extravagant shoes, jewellery and clothes' Observer 'Louise Levine is a zesty storyteller and a master of the needle-sharp one-liner' Daily Telegraph
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very, very funny book. I laughed out loud reading it on the tube. To the point where, on one occasion, all eyes turned on me because I snorted in merriment. It's funny because it nails so precisely the louche wannabes of the time, not so different from the sad wannabes of today, except in the length of their hem and the brand of their cigarette. It is rare to encounter a writer with such an acute ear for dialogue and such a sharp eye for detail. Rarely has there been snobbery so brilliantly portrayed. The only drawback of this book is that Ms Levene's writing is so engaging, you'll have finished it way too quickly.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Does anyone in 2010 have a 22 inch waist? Today's size zero models have nothing on these poor girls who are taken to the most expensive West End restaurants to sit uncomfortably in their 'waspies' and vomit between each course, ferociously brushing their teeth and reapplying just the right amount of make up to stay on the right side of the fine line between sophisticate and tart.
The novel is set in 1963, 'bobs' are just making their appearance but Twiggy's boyfriend look has yet to hit the scene. Janey's E cup figure is 'sample size' and this, coupled with the long hours of practice of her Paris Turns and being mistakenly handed a crocodile handbag, land her living her dream life of a model; a dream she has held on to through a life imprisoned in suburban hell with her aunt and frumpish sister (whom she disowned as an orphaned child, choosing instead the pretty blond as her sister, a trick unfortunately noticed and righted when they were rehoused with bitter Aunt Doreen)
The period detail cannot be faulted. It is a lesson in history as much as an absorbing story of the two 'it' girls and their rather sad existences spent working very hard at not working to pay the rent.
It is a book one is drawn into very quickly. The first chapters are light and breezy, funny and clever, and then the darker side of this life creeps in. The change in Jane as she evolves into Janey and depressingly quickly learns how to get what she wants (or thinks she should want) from the richest - though rarely the best looking - men. We see the stark choice for women in the early 60s between stay at home wife, wallowing in candlewick, or reviled tart, existing on Camp coffee, gin and ill gotten gowns.
A Vision of Loveliness is a wonderful picture of life at a turning point in women's history and as the book ends we are left looking forward to the the arrival of The Beatles, the mini, and the liberation of women and their waist lines!
Buy it. Read it. Love it. Live it - and breath easy in your Tencel!
The novel is set in 1963, 'bobs' are just making their appearance but Twiggy's boyfriend look has yet to hit the scene. Janey's E cup figure is 'sample size' and this, coupled with the long hours of practice of her Paris Turns and being mistakenly handed a crocodile handbag, land her living her dream life of a model; a dream she has held on to through a life imprisoned in suburban hell with her aunt and frumpish sister (whom she disowned as an orphaned child, choosing instead the pretty blond as her sister, a trick unfortunately noticed and righted when they were rehoused with bitter Aunt Doreen)
The period detail cannot be faulted. It is a lesson in history as much as an absorbing story of the two 'it' girls and their rather sad existences spent working very hard at not working to pay the rent.
It is a book one is drawn into very quickly. The first chapters are light and breezy, funny and clever, and then the darker side of this life creeps in. The change in Jane as she evolves into Janey and depressingly quickly learns how to get what she wants (or thinks she should want) from the richest - though rarely the best looking - men. We see the stark choice for women in the early 60s between stay at home wife, wallowing in candlewick, or reviled tart, existing on Camp coffee, gin and ill gotten gowns.
A Vision of Loveliness is a wonderful picture of life at a turning point in women's history and as the book ends we are left looking forward to the the arrival of The Beatles, the mini, and the liberation of women and their waist lines!
Buy it. Read it. Love it. Live it - and breath easy in your Tencel!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Louise Levene's first novel, "A Vision of Loveliness", is wonderful. The story of Suzy and Janey, two very naughty girls, living at other people's expense in early 1960's Mayfair, is thoroughly convincing, supported by a wealth of authentic period details, particularly those concerning women's fashion but also the social mores of the time. The latter are particularly telling because much of the delight of the novel arises from the desperate desire of the two girls to establish themselves in the kind of society where, they hope, their good looks will secure them a luxury lifestyle.
The satire is highly effective and, notwithstanding the thoroughly disreputable behaviour of Suzy and Janey, I fell in love with them both. I realised quite early on that I am (or was in 1963) the same age as the two main characters which may explain why I enjoyed their adventures so much. But I think the book will appeal to anyone of whatever age who enjoys good writing: vivid dialogue, razor sharp observation and comic drama.
A terrific first novel.
The satire is highly effective and, notwithstanding the thoroughly disreputable behaviour of Suzy and Janey, I fell in love with them both. I realised quite early on that I am (or was in 1963) the same age as the two main characters which may explain why I enjoyed their adventures so much. But I think the book will appeal to anyone of whatever age who enjoys good writing: vivid dialogue, razor sharp observation and comic drama.
A terrific first novel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Beautifully written
This book I picked up and put down so many times, and it was only when really bored at work I decided to give it a go as it was all I grabbed that morning. Read more
Published 4 months ago by A. stephenson
Not sure why it was recommended
Amazon recommended this for me, but I'm not sure why. Nonetheless, I needed to read it to see whether they got it right. They nearly did. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Puskas
A Vision of Loveliness
purchased it years ago after radio review and only read it in May-still reading it actually. Evoked so many memories of my older sister going to work in London I bought this copy... Read more
Published 11 months ago by trevorfuk
A vision of unlovely editing
The story of Suzy and Janey, pretty nineteen year old 'models' on the make in the big city is hardly original. Read more
Published 22 months ago by annwiddecombe
I loved it!
I caught a bit of this being read on Radio 4, and the characters were so inviting that I had to get a copy of the book and find out what happened to them. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Jones the Book
A Portrait etched in Acid
A knowledgeable and unsparing eye are coupled here with an almost over-abundant wealth of social detail to produce satire of the most biting kind. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Cottswold Ommony
Title is ironic with a vengeance
Very funny book, a highly ironic story of certain 1950s women & the way looking good for men rules their lives. Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2010 by Jaydee
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