- Hardcover
- Publisher: Random House Inc (T) (Jan 1994)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0679423184
- ISBN-13: 978-0679423188
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,142,451 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
In her superbly accomplished new novel, Anita Brookner proves that she is our mast profound observer of women's lives, posing questions about feminine identity and desire with a stylishness that conveys an almost sensual pleasure.
From the moment Jane Manning first meets her aunt Dolly, she is both fascinated and appalled. Where Jane is tactful and shy, Dolly is flamboyant and unrepentantly selfish, a connoisseur of fine things, an exploiter of wealthy people. But as the exigencies of family bring Jane and Dolly together, Brookner shows us that we may end up loving people we cannot bring ourselves to like -- and that this paradox makes love all the more precious and miraculous.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
From the moment Jane Manning first meets her aunt Dolly, she is both fascinated and appalled. Where Jane is tactful and shy, Dolly is flamboyant and unrepentantly selfish, a connoisseur of fine things, an exploiter of wealthy people. But as the exigencies of family bring Jane and Dolly together, Brookner shows us that we may end up loving people we cannot bring ourselves to like -- and that this paradox makes love all the more precious and miraculous.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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5 reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
stick with it
19 Sep 2000
Format:Paperback
The beginning of this novel was difficult, dry and slow-paced. It struck me at first as one of Anita Brookner's less successful efforts, a novel that made me understand why she has her detractors. But I kept reading and am glad I did.
The ending is powerful, disturbing and shocking, pulling the slow opening into focus. The psychological nuances are eerie, yet we know as the story ends that they're not only possible, but true. This is one of those books that makes the implausible absolutely true and inevitable. Dolly is a tale of love and symbiosis and as elegant and frightening as the work of Henry James.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Every Family Has one
11 Feb 2000
Format:Paperback
For years this novel has intrigued me. It is a wonderfully written insight into the sort of relationships that many of us have little understanding of and I was thus not surprised to close it for the first time and ask, "why?". Several years have gone by and I adore the novel no less as I understand its message far better
The novel offers so much in the definitions and boundaries of love and family. After all, I keep asking, why else would Jane go to so much trouble to make Dolly's life happier? Because she loves her; because Dolly has managed over the course of decades to move from the peripheral boundaries of the family to one of the few people who Jane has left in her life, and vice versa. The novel might be of a great help in anyone trying to conceptualise "family" -- the structure, boundaries, applications -- everything. This is a quiet, powerful novel whose role will, I hope, be realised in the years to come as the family structure continues to evolve.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Brookner's Tasty Treat
14 Jan 2000
Format:Paperback
If this novel were a pizza divided into quarters, the hungry reader would likely be put off by the first three wedges, which are relatively dry and tasteless: a tedious description of characters who seem to be nothing but complex family fossils. One might exclaim during these pages: "These people are like biplanes going nowhere at elephant speed, and with (oh no!) an infinite supply of nuclear fuel on board!" But the last wedge is a winner, and loaded with fancy tidbits to tempt the most jaded gourmet reader. Here questions arise and sparkle like bubbles breaking over the surface of a glass of good champagne: Why are these folks so bent on finding nothing in the chock-full treasure chest of life? What makes Dolly as mean as a cobra on speed? What is the source of Jane Manning's sympathy, her Santa Claus-like generosity? Anita Brookner raises many issues here, and they flutter like colorful banners in the breeze issuing forth from the dramatic conclusion to this novel. One such: what is the source of our obligations to others? And: do we have the courage to follow these clues to their unsettling ends? Some advice: unplug your phone and read this book through in one fun sitting. "Dolly" is as shocking as a South Dakota cyclone.
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