It was a reasonably enjoyable read - like many of other Keane's books it centres around a family living in a country house. Angel, the mother of Slaney (a girl!) and Julian, is widowed and relies on her family and servants to run her life according to her desires. Julian went away as a result of the war, and when he returns, it is with an American fiance. This is not what Angel planned, and the book develops the story of Angel discovering that she can't necessarily run things exactly as she wants them. I didn't find Angel particularly likeable, but at the same time, she wasn't especially dislikeable - she was a bit of a nothingness, but I was relieved to find nonetheless that she did get some comeuppance at the end.
It's only been published twice by Virago, it doesn't seem to have made it into the recent highly coloured reprints that some of her other work has seen.
Verity, this was the Keane I lost and searched for and sulked over last year, I finaly got a copy and read it again - I thought it read very much like a stage play and maybe that's what it was first meant to be. Not one of her best but I sense a weakening in your anti Keane stance, sure you will come to love her soon!
ReplyDeleteHayley - hmm - we'll see by the time I've got through the rest of them!!
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