Misalliance

Rating:
Summary: My first Brookner, and definitely not my last..
Review: I'm a fan of the writing of British women, with few exceptions, and I was long overdue in trying Anita Brookner. In this novel Brookner exhibits strong literary prowess in her impeccable use of the language. Nary a word is wasted in this tight, fast-moving novel. I was entirely immersed in this book for the gripping nature of the plot as well as the empathy I felt for the characters. An absolutely fabulous read! I'm now onto _Hotel du Lac_ and have no doubt it will be an equally engaging read.

Rating:
Summary: My first Brookner, and definitely not my last..
Review: I'm a fan of the writing of British women, with few exceptions, and I was long overdue in trying Anita Brookner. In this novel Brookner exhibits strong literary prowess in her impeccable use of the language. Nary a word is wasted in this tight, fast-moving novel. I was entirely immersed in this book for the gripping nature of the plot as well as the empathy I felt for the characters. An absolutely fabulous read! I'm now onto _Hotel du Lac_ and have no doubt it will be an equally engaging read.

Rating:
Summary: Drawn Into The Fray...
Review: With an unmistakable air of dignity and deliciously wry insight, British novelist Anita Brookner once again tweaks the microscope on the human psyche as she examines the intricacies of life, love and friendship within contemporary society.

It is April, and Blanche Vernon finds herself divorced and alone in her Park Lane flat after twenty years of marriage to a man who had once found her too exuberant for his tastes. Yet, her efforts in cultivating a drier, more serious countenance had little effect upon his regard for her-or lack thereof. Rather, Bertie Vernon left his wife for a passionate though shameless young woman by the name of Mousie.

Maintaining a simple yet respectable existence, Blanche finds herself spending many an afternoon at the National Gallery, where she lingers before masterpieces depicting the hedonism of the gods and the virtue of the saints. So absorbed is she within the solitude of her circumstances, Blanche sees little possibility of amending her routine until one particular day in which she encounters Elinor, a child of boundless seriousness who has never uttered a word, and her step-mother, Sally, a beautiful yet artless woman of little conscience, in the outpatient ward of the hospital where Blanche volunteers twice a week. Immediately taken with the unusual demeanor of the child, Blanche finds her curiosity and desire to do good drawing her into a world wherein she becomes an unwilling accessory to and victim of petty manipulations and self-aggrandizing agendas.

Illuminating the ageless tug-of-war between freedom and responsibility as well as the perpetual struggle between humanity's hedonism and saintliness, The Misalliance lures the reader into an internal dialogue within which she very well may begin to contemplate her own nature as well as the motivations of those to whom she bestows her trust.