- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Fig Tree; Reprint edition (6 Aug 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1905490453
- ISBN-13: 978-1905490455
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 254,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Family Album
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Product Description
Review
Lively immediately plunges us into an entirely convincing world of bustling family life...exceptionally well observed and gloriously enjoyable...this should be rated as one of her most impressive works (Guardian )
One of those ridiculously simple, ridiculously readable novels whose artistry only becomes apparent when you put it down with a sign of regret, having devoured it in one sitting...Lively still displays an economy and an elegance that put younger writers to shame (Sunday Telegraph )
Lively's brilliance is of the creeping kind. There is a sense of formality, which falls away as the novel gains pace and builds towards an unforeseen end. She is particularly good at bending language to make it fit her cool and clear voice...Lively succeeds brilliantly in getting a hold on the climate of family life. Slowly we absorb the details that get lost in the bluster and flurry until we are so drawn in, so tightly contained in the dynamics of this one, that the end, when it comes, is simply devastating (The Times )
A pleasure to read, hugely enjoyable, consistently absorbing, hilarious (Independent )
An involving emotional drama and an insightful examination of changing family values (Easy Living )
The complexities and silences of family life are intelligently and subtly explored...a very engaging novel, continuously interesting and often moving (Scotsman )
Gorgeous (David Vann Guardian Books of the Year )
Sympathetic and observant, Lively moves fluidly between present-tense set-piece scenes and silent monologues, placing the novel's revelations where they will be most effective, and allowing implications - about marriage, feminism and personal ambition - to blossom slowly (Sunday Times )
Penelope Lively at her best, sharp-eyed but sympathetic, deftly steering the reader from one point of view to another. This novel should delight her regular readers and ensnare new ones (Evening Standard )
A very readable, well-paced novel peopled with Lively's customary immaculately observed and impeccably rounded characters (Independent on Sunday )
Lively skilfully mingles past and present, as she peels away the layers to uncover a family secret of which no one speaks...Lively's astute skewering of family relations reverberates in the mind long afterwards (Daily Mail )
Lively plays her sleight of hand with admirable dexterity. The dialogue is pitch-perfect, the writing crisp and the humour wonderfully dry (Tatler )
Gripping. An intelligent look at family relationships and the knock-on effects of past events on the present. It's an absorbing tale of mystery and intrigue that will leave you wondering what lies behind even the nicest façade (Woman & Home )
A deeply satisfying, eloquent family-fabric novel (Good Housekeeping )
One of those ridiculously simple, ridiculously readable novels whose artistry only becomes apparent when you put it down with a sign of regret, having devoured it in one sitting...Lively still displays an economy and an elegance that put younger writers to shame (Sunday Telegraph )
Lively's brilliance is of the creeping kind. There is a sense of formality, which falls away as the novel gains pace and builds towards an unforeseen end. She is particularly good at bending language to make it fit her cool and clear voice...Lively succeeds brilliantly in getting a hold on the climate of family life. Slowly we absorb the details that get lost in the bluster and flurry until we are so drawn in, so tightly contained in the dynamics of this one, that the end, when it comes, is simply devastating (The Times )
A pleasure to read, hugely enjoyable, consistently absorbing, hilarious (Independent )
An involving emotional drama and an insightful examination of changing family values (Easy Living )
The complexities and silences of family life are intelligently and subtly explored...a very engaging novel, continuously interesting and often moving (Scotsman )
Gorgeous (David Vann Guardian Books of the Year )
Sympathetic and observant, Lively moves fluidly between present-tense set-piece scenes and silent monologues, placing the novel's revelations where they will be most effective, and allowing implications - about marriage, feminism and personal ambition - to blossom slowly (Sunday Times )
Penelope Lively at her best, sharp-eyed but sympathetic, deftly steering the reader from one point of view to another. This novel should delight her regular readers and ensnare new ones (Evening Standard )
A very readable, well-paced novel peopled with Lively's customary immaculately observed and impeccably rounded characters (Independent on Sunday )
Lively skilfully mingles past and present, as she peels away the layers to uncover a family secret of which no one speaks...Lively's astute skewering of family relations reverberates in the mind long afterwards (Daily Mail )
Lively plays her sleight of hand with admirable dexterity. The dialogue is pitch-perfect, the writing crisp and the humour wonderfully dry (Tatler )
Gripping. An intelligent look at family relationships and the knock-on effects of past events on the present. It's an absorbing tale of mystery and intrigue that will leave you wondering what lies behind even the nicest façade (Woman & Home )
A deeply satisfying, eloquent family-fabric novel (Good Housekeeping )
Product Description
A big shabby Victorian suburban house, the smell of raincoats and coq au vin in the hall, the six mugs for the children slung from the kitchen dresser hooks: for destructive Paul, difficult Gina, elegant Sandra, considerate Katie, clever Roger and flighty Clare, Allersmead was the perfect place to grow up. But was it?
Now grown-up and off in different directions, one by one the children return to Allersmead, to their home-making mother and aloof writer father and a house that for years has played silent witness to the secrets of a family, and one particular secret of which no one speaks...
In her sixteenth novel, Penelope Lively shows her extraordinary understanding of what makes us human as she delves into the mystery of family life.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Penelop Lively's new novel covers a subject previously explored in 'A House Unlocked'. In 'Family Album' the home is the only reliable witness to a tale of many voices. There is no protagonist, the commentary comes from the memories and reflections of the six children born at Allersmead, a large, shabby 7 bedroomed Edwardian house which becomes a shrine to old fashioned family life.
Alison, an earth mother, and Charles, a scholarly and detached husband live at Allersmead, together with their children, 4 girls and 2 boys, plus Ingrid, the au pair. Eventually the children fly the nest, leaving only Paul, the feckless first born still in residence. Although the others fleetingly (and reluctantly) return from time to time, they are all brought together through family circumstances. The author doesn't seem to go to any lengths to camouflage the 'skeleton in the cupboard', which I easily guessed early on, but I can't help feeling Lively is hinting at another, possibly darker secret than the one exposed. I know this isn't her style, so maybe I have just 'misread' between the lines!
Regardless, this beautifully orchestrated story of the English middle classes from the 1970s to present day is so convincingly told as to make the reader sigh, smile or cringe! The past and present narratives are smoothely interwoven and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this novel.
Alison, an earth mother, and Charles, a scholarly and detached husband live at Allersmead, together with their children, 4 girls and 2 boys, plus Ingrid, the au pair. Eventually the children fly the nest, leaving only Paul, the feckless first born still in residence. Although the others fleetingly (and reluctantly) return from time to time, they are all brought together through family circumstances. The author doesn't seem to go to any lengths to camouflage the 'skeleton in the cupboard', which I easily guessed early on, but I can't help feeling Lively is hinting at another, possibly darker secret than the one exposed. I know this isn't her style, so maybe I have just 'misread' between the lines!
Regardless, this beautifully orchestrated story of the English middle classes from the 1970s to present day is so convincingly told as to make the reader sigh, smile or cringe! The past and present narratives are smoothely interwoven and I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this novel.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I make a habit of buying Penelope Lively's novels as soon as they come out. They are all different, and this time I was certainly not disappointed. Having just read her memoir A House Unlocked (also from Amazon) which is a fascinating book about a real house with its social history over most of the twentieth century, I very much enjoyed Family Album - again partly about a house, Allersmead, but all the better for being a novel. The characters are mostly believable and distinct from each other, even though there are six children in the family - I soon sorted out who was who, and came to like them all in different ways.
Very small quibbles - Ingrid the au pair was rather a cold stereotype Scandinavian, which I noticed because a lot of my relations are Danish and all different from each other! And it irritated me that we never found out if she was actually Danish or Swedish. Also when Katie flies up from Boston to visit Roger in Toronto and tells him how she longs for a child and has tried everything, even IVF, it is unconvincing that he, a doctor, does not already know about her having had IVF. IVF is a complicated long-drawn out medical procedure, at least it was in my family, and it is not believable that she would not have consulted her brother (in the same continent as herself) while deciding whether to embark on it; that's what brothers who are doctors are for! Oh and Martin doesn't go to the funeral - I hardly think that a meeting of Senate would be enough to stop him - even if he were the Vice Chancellor himself, he would have a deputy and a family funeral would override Senate; unless Martin was looking for an excuse to miss the funeral, of course?
I very rarely read a novel more than once - life is too short to fit them all in - but it struck me early on when reading Family Album that this is a novel that I will read again, because I want to savour again the delicate way that all their lives unfold, intertwined with each other and then separately when the children grow up. It's a very clever book, and a real treat to look forward to if you haven't read it!
Very small quibbles - Ingrid the au pair was rather a cold stereotype Scandinavian, which I noticed because a lot of my relations are Danish and all different from each other! And it irritated me that we never found out if she was actually Danish or Swedish. Also when Katie flies up from Boston to visit Roger in Toronto and tells him how she longs for a child and has tried everything, even IVF, it is unconvincing that he, a doctor, does not already know about her having had IVF. IVF is a complicated long-drawn out medical procedure, at least it was in my family, and it is not believable that she would not have consulted her brother (in the same continent as herself) while deciding whether to embark on it; that's what brothers who are doctors are for! Oh and Martin doesn't go to the funeral - I hardly think that a meeting of Senate would be enough to stop him - even if he were the Vice Chancellor himself, he would have a deputy and a family funeral would override Senate; unless Martin was looking for an excuse to miss the funeral, of course?
I very rarely read a novel more than once - life is too short to fit them all in - but it struck me early on when reading Family Album that this is a novel that I will read again, because I want to savour again the delicate way that all their lives unfold, intertwined with each other and then separately when the children grow up. It's a very clever book, and a real treat to look forward to if you haven't read it!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am a fan anyway but I was excited when I got this book - and I wasn't disappointed. I couldn't put it down. I can't believe that Ms Lively is still turning out such fab books. Thoroughly recommended for a bit of enjoyable summer garden reading. Give it a go if you haven't read her before!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Enjoyable but not her best
I soon became immersed in this story of a large family growing up, leaving home, and intermittently returning for various family functions, but it isn't one of Penelope Lively's... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Suzie
More beautifully crafted story telling
"Family Album" captures the complexities and nuances of family life with Lively's typically gimlet eye for detail. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Jl Adcock
An impressive dissection of middle class family life
Well, this definitely isn't an exciting story - so anyone who wants action, even a tiny bit, is going to be disappointed and describe it as boring. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Alison McVey
NOTHING SPECIAL
Alison is a mother who smothers, reluctant to let go. Her children who get on in life are those who break free. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mr. D. L. Rees
The more the merrier... not so much
I enjoyed reading Family Album. It was a gift and I haven't read any other books by the author but would now consider reading some of her others. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mrs Wheeler
Doesn't do what it says on the tin
Maybe it's not the fault of the author (since presumably she doesn't write the jacket blurb), but this one failed to deliver on its promise. '... Read more
Published 17 months ago by davidT
Family album
Good descriptive writing, but found ending a bit week, discussing the book in club meeting so will see what other readers thought
Published 18 months ago by Sue from Cornwall
Dreary.
I bought this book as it was shortlisted for the 2009 Costa Novel award 2009, competition must have been slim that year! Read more
Published 21 months ago by Book lover
Skeletons in the cupboard
What a mixed set of reviews elicited by one novel! I have struggled in the past with Penelope Lively but romped through this one and, as ever, it's elegantly written and skilfully... Read more
Published 21 months ago by booksetc
Lots of potential but too many flaws
The story is interesting conceptually but ultimately a let-down presentationally. Suspense is created well in the opening chapters, but the structure, with constant zipping back... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Sugar Spun Sister
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