- Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (30 April 1987)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140092668
- ISBN-13: 978-0140092660
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.6 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 738,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Susan Hill
'This stuff of intimate family life is brilliantly presented, subtly and yet with unnerving directness'
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
'This stuff of intimate family life is brilliantly presented, subtly and yet with unnerving directness' Susan Hill
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Forster does a masterful job in creating two very believable and credible characters, each of whom presents the "truth" about life inside a family structure. The mother, Penelope, believes in the sanctity of the family and its ability --- above all other institutions --- to shelter, protect and preserve. Penelope's eldest daughter Rosemary, however, sees things from a much more independent and modern viewpoint: a post-war childhood leading to a rejection of the pre-war social conventions. The writing is sure and solid, and the characters are flawed enough to be human and likeable. You're never quite sure which is the more truthful narrator (or who has the greater level of self-awareness), so there's a tautness to the storyline that serves the reader well. A highly, highly recommended book.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I found this novel absolutely gripping - Margaret Foster's understanding of human relationships is precise and piercing - a great read. Written from two perspectives (mother's and daughter's)it brings into focus the subtleties of a complex relationship and illustrates the shifting values across the generations. Highly recommended.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very wise and intuitive description of family relationships. It illustrates and emphasises how every aspect of life can be perceived and interpreted and misinterpreted in different ways by different observers.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Family Dramas
An insight into an unconventional family, seen through the eyes of both the mother (who's decided to write the family history) and the eldest daughter. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Kate Hopkins
Plodding through the book
I am a fan of Margaret Forster, but I cannot recommend this book. I feel I ought to finish it, but reluctantly so. Read more
Published 12 months ago by country mouse
DIFFERENT VIEW ABOUT A SHARED PROBLEM
This was a well written book, which looked at the workings of a familly-mother and four daughters,also grandchildren,husbands and lovers come into the story as well. Read more
Published 12 months ago by bibliophile
One family - two interpretations
The title, 'Private Papers', refers to a family history of five women; a widow and her four daughters. Penelope, abandoned as a baby has one ambition in life, to have a family. Read more
Published on 12 May 2010 by Isola
How children grieve
I thought this story gave an insight as to how families cope with bereavement or perhaps more to the point it isn't until later life a child comes to recognise the true impact of a... Read more
Published on 14 July 2008 by bebegee
A deeply interesting view of a family history.
To have the 'life' of the family viewed from the sentimental aspect of the mother, and the very modern jaundiced view of one of the daughters was fasinating.
Published on 26 Sep 1999
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