7 used & new from £10.38

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
An Autumn Sowing
 
 

An Autumn Sowing (Paperback)

by E.F. Benson (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Available from these sellers.


6 used from £10.38 1 collectible from £26.00

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Blotting Book

The Blotting Book

by E., F. Benson
£5.99
The Freaks of Mayfair (Prion humour classics)

The Freaks of Mayfair (Prion humour classics)

by E.F. Benson
£7.19
Mrs Ames

Mrs Ames

by E F Benson
£9.90
Major Benjy

Major Benjy

by Guy Fraser-Sampson
3.6 out of 5 stars (15)  £6.49
Dodo Omnibus

Dodo Omnibus

by E.F. Benson
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: The Hogarth Press Ltd; New edition edition (8 Oct 1987)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0701207620
  • ISBN-13: 978-0701207625
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 204,046 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Search inside this book:

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?


 

Customer Reviews

1 Review
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars funny and bittersweet., 21 Dec 2003
By S. Hapgood "www.sjhstrangetales.com" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
Tom Keeling is 50 and considered by many to be a highly successful man. He started out with one fish-shop and now owns a chain of department stores, he has been elected as Mayor of Bracebridge, he gives generously to charity, he lives in a big, comfortable house on the edge of town with his socially-ambitious wife, and three nearly grown-up children. But Tom senses something is missing with his lot, and when he meets his efficient new secretary he realises what that is. Norah Propert is intelligent, charming and shares his love of books and country walks, whereas his wife is only interested in press cuttings of herself as Lady Mayoress, and when she's going to get her next invite to Lord and Lady Inverbroom's house.

The way that Tom and Norah's feelings for each other gradually unfolds is done with great delicacy and sensitivity. I thought at first that it might turn out as though Norah was on the fiddle, only after Tom's loot, but she turns out to be genuine, and on the rare occasions when Tom stops being a businessman, he is shown to have more depth to him than is immediately apparent.

This is also a very funny book. In fact the first few pages of it seem to be one of Benson's wonderfully bitchy satires, you get no indication of the tenderness that is to come. One of Benson's gifts as a writer is that you can easily start off thinking he hates his characters, and is only sending them up, but this is not so. The opening scenes, which cover a typical family Sunday in the Keeling household, are beautifully acidy. Tom Keeling's mother-in-law, a spiteful old lady, never misses a moment during the Sunday roast to remind him that he only started off as a fish-monger, and eventually causes such a poisonous atmosphere that she has to be "led away from the table like a wicked little elephant".

On top of that Keeling's daughter Alice has an impossible crush on the new vicar, Mr Silverdale. Impossible because Mr Silverdale is as camp as Christmas! In fact what a wonderful role this would have been for Charles Hawtrey! Everytime Silverdale appears I kept expecting him to utter Hawtrey's trademark "Oh hello!" Staying on the comedy front, there are also strong touches of Margot Leadbetter or Hyacinth Bucket about Tom's wife, with her stuffed crocodile in the hallway, (to receive letters), making her male staff wear uniforms covered in buttons, and her fury at finding Norah coming into the house by the front door.

This is one of Benson's least-known novels, and yet it is a delight, and very moving too.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject









i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.