- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Quercus (1 July 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1849162182
- ISBN-13: 978-1849162180
- Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 13.2 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 222,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
At Sea
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Laurie Graham, what a find! I was only about three sentences into At Sea when I knew I was going to savour every sentence and bitterly mourn the end ... Graham's taut, colourful, slightly camp style mingles Alan Bennett with Sue Townsend (does it get better than that?). The kind of book you stay awake far later than you should do reading, only to wake bleary eyed the next day thinking of the time when you can pick it up again' Wendy Holden, Daily Mail.
'Laurie Graham's grip on the art of subversive comedy is as masterful as ever... Sailing along on a tide of joie de vivre, readers will cheer for Enid as she asserts her independence' Lizzie Buchan, Sunday Times.
'Every line of this wonderfully subversive, positively Wodehousian comedy is hilarious. Curiously, this is my first encounter with a Laurie Graham novel and, so cheering was it, I am overjoyed to find there is a long backlist' Carla McKay, Daily Mail.
'Laurie Graham's grip on the art of subversive comedy is as masterful as ever... Sailing along on a tide of joie de vivre, readers will cheer for Enid as she asserts her independence' Lizzie Buchan, Sunday Times.
'Every line of this wonderfully subversive, positively Wodehousian comedy is hilarious. Curiously, this is my first encounter with a Laurie Graham novel and, so cheering was it, I am overjoyed to find there is a long backlist' Carla McKay, Daily Mail.
Product Description
When Lady Enid - an aristocrat in need of a project and a husband - throws her lot in with dashing Bernard Finch, she thinks she's found her perfect life's companion. Handsome and clever, Bernard has come a long way from his small-town American roots. Now he is a man transformed, more English than the English, the doyen of culture vultures and a celebrated lecturer on Aegean cruises. Which is where his past comes back to bite him, in the shape of his old college chum, Frankie Gleeson. Frankie has made his fortune in corn snacks and to celebrate his success he brings his wife, Nola, to cruise the Greek islands. Frankie is a simple man but he has the gift of total recall, of every detail of Bernard's early years. While Bernard shuns his cruise companions, Enid finds herself strangely drawn to them. It's amazing how much can happen between Istanbul and Venice.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this book for my Kindle at the end of March and it languished for a while. But when I got round to reading it, what a discovery. I read until four o'clock in the morning to finish it.
What does 'At Sea' remind me of? Nancy Mitford, Mavis Cheek, bits of Wodehouse, but most of all, Laurie Graham. She is her own true voice. She takes the essence of ordinary and extraordinary people and blends them into her own individual characters that make you chuckle and laugh aloud at times. They are both larger than life, yet strangely real and sometimes to be made fun of and sometimes one can feel for them also.
Somebody interviewed Laurie Graham and asked her how she came to build the pompous and ridiculous, and somehow pathetic, Bernard and she said: "He's a composite of men I've known. I've collected monsters all my life. And the wonderful thing about men like Bernard is that they're so full of themselves they're oblivious to an anonymous, eavesdropping writer who's quietly taking notes."
We ally ourselves with the Hon. Enid, wrapped up as so many women are, with her egocentric, puffed up husband. For more than twenty years she has scurried to do his bidding, supported him and built him up to be the centre of his world, until they meet some Americans at their table on the pleasure cruise where Bernard Finch is a classical tour guide and lecturer. He is told that he resembles an old friend of the American called Willy Fink, all knowledge of which is hotly denied by Bernard. Bernard takes to his cabin and Enid slowly gets wise to the world of deception to which she has allowed herself, in some part, to be entangled.
Enid, to our delight, slowly begins to stand up for herself and, ten years younger than her frightful husband, also starts to enjoy life. It is a shame if reviews give too much away about a plot, I like to discover things the way the author intended, so I will not continue with the storyline here.
Laurie Graham's writing is sharp and delicious. Never too wordy, I didn't need to skip paragraphs, I enjoyed every word. But then, she was a Telegraph journalist, so she keeps to the point. Yes there is some brilliant writing in here as well, descriptions of the people, sometimes acid, sometimes compassionate.
Do read this book, you won't regret it and you will have an entertaining couple of days. Find out what 'meat and potatoes' are and have fun. This is a book I have put in my Best Read collection which contains only 22 titles so far, as I am only able, sadly, to add one or two a year.
What does 'At Sea' remind me of? Nancy Mitford, Mavis Cheek, bits of Wodehouse, but most of all, Laurie Graham. She is her own true voice. She takes the essence of ordinary and extraordinary people and blends them into her own individual characters that make you chuckle and laugh aloud at times. They are both larger than life, yet strangely real and sometimes to be made fun of and sometimes one can feel for them also.
Somebody interviewed Laurie Graham and asked her how she came to build the pompous and ridiculous, and somehow pathetic, Bernard and she said: "He's a composite of men I've known. I've collected monsters all my life. And the wonderful thing about men like Bernard is that they're so full of themselves they're oblivious to an anonymous, eavesdropping writer who's quietly taking notes."
We ally ourselves with the Hon. Enid, wrapped up as so many women are, with her egocentric, puffed up husband. For more than twenty years she has scurried to do his bidding, supported him and built him up to be the centre of his world, until they meet some Americans at their table on the pleasure cruise where Bernard Finch is a classical tour guide and lecturer. He is told that he resembles an old friend of the American called Willy Fink, all knowledge of which is hotly denied by Bernard. Bernard takes to his cabin and Enid slowly gets wise to the world of deception to which she has allowed herself, in some part, to be entangled.
Enid, to our delight, slowly begins to stand up for herself and, ten years younger than her frightful husband, also starts to enjoy life. It is a shame if reviews give too much away about a plot, I like to discover things the way the author intended, so I will not continue with the storyline here.
Laurie Graham's writing is sharp and delicious. Never too wordy, I didn't need to skip paragraphs, I enjoyed every word. But then, she was a Telegraph journalist, so she keeps to the point. Yes there is some brilliant writing in here as well, descriptions of the people, sometimes acid, sometimes compassionate.
Do read this book, you won't regret it and you will have an entertaining couple of days. Find out what 'meat and potatoes' are and have fun. This is a book I have put in my Best Read collection which contains only 22 titles so far, as I am only able, sadly, to add one or two a year.
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have never reviewed anything on Amazon before, but I have just finished this book (got it from the library on Saturday and finished it on Sunday) and I thought it was just wonderful. Not so laugh-out-loud as some of her books, but very cleverly written - subtle humour which I love - I could hardly put it down, and thought about the characters and what might happen when I was obliged to stop reading for a while to tend to my poorly husband! In my opinion her best book for some time, and I've read every one of them. I shall definitely buy it once the pre-owned ones become available.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you've never read a book by Laurie Graham - try this one and you'll want to read all her others. She has hit upon a brilliant story here and has such a wonderfully comic way of writing that you can't fail to enjoy this book.
There are all sorts of characters on board the "Golden Memories" cruise ship, but Lady Enid is the star of the show. Towards the end I hoped that the Professor would ...... but I'll leave you to fill in the blanks!
There are all sorts of characters on board the "Golden Memories" cruise ship, but Lady Enid is the star of the show. Towards the end I hoped that the Professor would ...... but I'll leave you to fill in the blanks!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Deliciously entertaining
The only book I had read by Laurie Graham was The Future Homemakers of America which I thoroughly enjoyed, as did the rest of my reading group. Read more
Published 17 hours ago by hiljean
Very funny and suprising
I read this book whilst on a cruise! I'm a big fan of Laurie Graham and loved this book, couldn't put it down. Read more
Published 1 month ago by SueG
Cracking read
Bernard Finch is a lecturer working on a cruise liner. He deems his audience to be a nuisance and to be avoided at all costs once the tour and talk is over and the liner has left... Read more
Published 4 months ago by DizzyC
all at sea
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, found it a great read and couldn't put it down!Would love to see it as a film.
Published 4 months ago by hilary
Not as good as expected
I bought this book after reading a review of it in the Mail on Sunday 'You' supplement.
I found it a bit labourious at times and not all that funny. Read more
I found it a bit labourious at times and not all that funny. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Dolly Daydream
Book At Sea
Damn good read which I enjoyed. I dont often read novels but this was a nice light story.
Highly recommended read
Highly recommended read
Published 5 months ago by Mr. Nicholas Ross
At Sea
Brilliant book! First time I've read Laurie Graham and shall read again when I'm looking for something that's well written and easy to read, as well as funny and highly... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Jenny
At Sea - Laurie Graham
This was a really good story - couldn't put it down. Having been on cruises I found the subject interesting & the ending came as a surprise. I was not disappointed
Published 6 months ago by Edith
Laurie Graham can do no wrong!
Another great read from Laurie Graham! As with her other books, the author relates the tale through the leading character, in this case Lady Enid, an impoverished aristo, eking out... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Kindle Junkie
First review ever
Laurie Graham's book is possibly the worst book I have ever read. After persevering with the first 6 pages of trivia, I threw it across the room. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Sarah
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