A 1973 Booker Prize finalist reprinted by McNally following a bookseller–Hero Kinoull–who falls in love (romaticly) with her lover’s wife and then (platonically) his mother. But really the only main plot point is that there is a seminar to be held on Rococo art and an outbreak of Typhus.
This is really a novel following Hero’s departure from the seemingly serious masculine world of literature and preservation (she moonlights in book binding/restoration) and into the feminine worlds of volunteerism and gardening. All of these stages take place through the conduit of one of the other characters who she becomes obsessed with. Really it’s a novel about finding a sense of identity in a time that feels unmoored (written in the 70’s but set at the dawn of WWI). Hero fights from backward-looking cynicism towards some degree of hope.
This is a witty book of English style and French character. It may no longer be as transgressive or shocking as the early reviews seem to indicate but the core is still good. While the plot description seems like this may be a fun drama, it’s really a quite serious book (although still funny) with good writing (although it feels very “film-like” through fast scene changes and sharp transitions between reflection/poetic descriptions/dialogue).
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