- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Hutchinson (Jun 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0091745209
- ISBN-13: 978-0091745202
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,408,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
The Independent on Sunday, July 1990
A wonderfully snotty heroine...written with vim and vitriol.
Cosmopolitan, July 1990
An accomplished and compulsively readable comedy of manners
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
When I read Foreign Bodies for the first timeI found it hard to put down. Craig draws fine characterisations of ex-pats abroad, and she vividly describes Italy. I found it by turns amusing and well observed, with a neat little plot twist. I have read it several times since, and it retains its freshness. I've enjoyed all Ms. Craig's books. She manages to introduce threads of mysticism and makes them believable.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A lovely and vital book about a girl gradually coming to self-realization during a year spent in Italy, with a twist of detective story thrown in! Emma Kenward is a heroine in the grand 19th-century tradition; a woman (like Jane Austen's Emma Woodhouse) who at the start of the novel comes across as opinionated and over-confident, but is gradually revealed as rather vulnerable, and who, from being extremely self-involved, becomes increasingly aware of the feelings of others, and more interested in other people. I loved the very unsentimental depictions of Italy; Craig captures both the beauty of the Umbrian landscape and the stylishness of the 'old-style' Italians such as the wonderful Contessa Claudia, and the contadina Maria Guardi, and the horrors of modern Italian suburban life. The scene where Emma has to cook dinner for her boyfriend Lucio (an anarchist and pop musician who also manages to be a mamma's boy) and his family had me in fits of laughter. Andrew Evenlode, Emma's equivalent of Mr Knightly, is a very attractive character, and I found myself liking him more and more as he revealed the humorous and thoughtful man below the slightly waspish Oxford don exterior. There's some good observations of expats too (I've certainly encountered women like the emotional American painter Sylvia before!). And the element of detective story ensures that the final third of the novel has elements of a page-turner as well. A really enjoyable read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
An entertaining and enjoyable novel about a young woman's coming of age and of her attempts to understand who she is and what she really wants from life. After an argument with her wealthy and self-satisfied parents, Emma Kenward, intellectually precocious, but emotionally immature , leaves the comfortable family home in Kensington and, using a small legacy, she escapes to Tuscany to realize her dream of becoming a painter. Once there she moves in with an older friend, Sylvia, determined to lead a life of bohemian freedom - well for nine months anyhow - until she has discovered whether she has any real talent for art or whether she should return to England and take up her university place at Oxford.
Before long Emma has fallen in love with Lucio, a local musician and archetypical Italian male, but is strangely drawn to Andrew Evenlode, an Oxford Don, whom she last saw (and took a violent dislike to) when she attended her interview for entry into Oxford. Determined to find fault with Evenlode, Emma in spite of herself, gradually comes to the realization that first impressions can be deceptive and that people are not always what they seem to be. As the winter turns to summer and the temperature rises, Emma starts to see things in a different light; she falls in and out of love, gains and loses friends, and unexpectedly finds herself in the middle of what could be a crime of passion...
This novel is Amanda Craig's debut novel and, for a first novel, this was a very good start. I first came to this book after reading a more recent novel by the same author: Hearts and Minds, which I very much enjoyed. However, I will say that when I first started reading 'Foreign Bodies' I was a little unsure, thinking that the story was going to be too light and inconsequential, but I am pleased to say that I was wrong. Although this is basically a light-hearted story, it is not a lightweight one; it is amusing without trying too hard to be funny and it is whimsical without being overly farcical. If you are looking for a great literary novel, then this isn't it - but if you are looking for a witty, lively and entertaining read, then `Foreign Bodies' might just be what you are looking for.
4 Stars.
Note: At the time of writing, this book seems to be unavailable directly from Amazon, however there are hardback and paperback copies available on Amazon Marketplace.
Before long Emma has fallen in love with Lucio, a local musician and archetypical Italian male, but is strangely drawn to Andrew Evenlode, an Oxford Don, whom she last saw (and took a violent dislike to) when she attended her interview for entry into Oxford. Determined to find fault with Evenlode, Emma in spite of herself, gradually comes to the realization that first impressions can be deceptive and that people are not always what they seem to be. As the winter turns to summer and the temperature rises, Emma starts to see things in a different light; she falls in and out of love, gains and loses friends, and unexpectedly finds herself in the middle of what could be a crime of passion...
This novel is Amanda Craig's debut novel and, for a first novel, this was a very good start. I first came to this book after reading a more recent novel by the same author: Hearts and Minds, which I very much enjoyed. However, I will say that when I first started reading 'Foreign Bodies' I was a little unsure, thinking that the story was going to be too light and inconsequential, but I am pleased to say that I was wrong. Although this is basically a light-hearted story, it is not a lightweight one; it is amusing without trying too hard to be funny and it is whimsical without being overly farcical. If you are looking for a great literary novel, then this isn't it - but if you are looking for a witty, lively and entertaining read, then `Foreign Bodies' might just be what you are looking for.
4 Stars.
Note: At the time of writing, this book seems to be unavailable directly from Amazon, however there are hardback and paperback copies available on Amazon Marketplace.
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