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The characters seem to exist in a perpetual Mad Hatter's tea-party (KATE SAUNDERS )
This is a marvellous writer (GRAHAM GREENE )
All of her books read as if she wrote them effortlessly (URSULA HOLDEN )
This is a marvellous writer (GRAHAM GREENE )
All of her books read as if she wrote them effortlessly (URSULA HOLDEN )
GRAHAM GREENE
'This is a marvellous writer'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have read this book a number of times since I was a teenager and just reread it in one delightful sitting yesterday. Comyns has a fantastic voice, and its hard to believe that the book isn't biographical. Set in Bohemian London in the Thirties, Sophia is a young woman married to artist Charles. The book sees her through poverty, pregnancy, and infedility though at all times is touching, humourous and historically interesting. One of the things I've always liked best about this book is the fact that is unchallenging and easy to read but is a genuinely excellent piece of English literature. I have read little of her other works, but what I have read I've also deeply enjoyed.
44 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you're unfamiliar with Barbara Comyns' unique style, then this would be a good place to start. It is the (apparently semi-autobiographical) tale of the breakdown of an ill-starred marriage; and though the usual features of Comyns' novels are all here (a loveable, childlike first-person narrator; occasional touches of the macabre; a strange sense of things taking place at a certain slant to everyday reality), the book also has the intensity of personal experience. In place of the usual disclaimer about characters and events being purely fictitious, any resemblances being purely coincidental, etc., Comyns places a disarming little superscription: "The only things that are true in this story are the wedding and Chapters 10, 11 and 12 and the poverty."
Sophia, at the age of twenty-one, elopes with penniless young artist Charles to live the Bohemian life in London. She is an innocent abroad, who carries pet newt Great Warty about in her pocket and is ill-prepared for the real hardships of poverty and motherhood. An affair with an elderly art critic just makes the situation worse, and Sophia has to undergo a harrowing personal tragedy before ultimately finding unexpected happiness at the end of the book.
The seamless juxtapposition of the tragic and the macabre with lovingly drawn scenes from everyday life is completely typical of Comyns' writing, but reaches a new intensity in this novel, which as a result is extremely and unexpectedly moving. Comyns was a real Great British Eccentric, and coming across her work for the first time is an utter delight for the reader. If you haven't encountered her before, then do buy this book: I don't think you'll be disappointed.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a really excellent novel about the doomed marriage of a young aspiring artist in the "bohemia" of 1930s London. It is told from the point of view of the central character (a girl of unusual intelligence and wit who the reader will come to adore) and despite its subject matter, it is totally non dreary. It is a funny, pithy human and critical piece about a girl growing up. It is so short that it could be read in an afternoon, definately highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very amusing narration
I wouldn't have found and read this book had it not been for amazon recommendations. It was immensely enjoyable yet desperately sad in parts owing to the naivety of the narrator. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Annie
Our Spoons Came from Woolworths
There is something about Barbara Comyns' writing that I find completely irresistable. I also find it difficult to explain, but here are three words to start with: clarity,... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Fleur Fisher
simply classic
Has this been made into a film? If not, why not. Simple and incredibly descriptive, but beautifully written with such honesty I couldn't put this novel down. Read more
Published 20 months ago by S. Dalton
setson51
This was a charnming book. Very much of its time, 1930s. The writer assumes the naif style voice for the chief protagonist. Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2009 by setson51
Delightful Whimsy
When the green Virago Modern Classics first came out I used to buy one regularly - frequently judging them by the picture on the cover. Many struck me as being dull and worthy. Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2009 by Alun Williams
Is it true?
A simple straightforward book that you can read while you are at the doctor or at the post-office waiting with underground or background noise ripping off your attention. Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2008 by Acquafortis
Disappointingly ordinary
I bought this book on the recommendation of reviews on Amazon, but was highly disappointed. It is the story of a young lady who marries a painter; then comes a baby, an affair, an... Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2007 by Catfish
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