Reviews

The Spoilt City by Olivia Manning

krobart's review against another edition

4.0

See my review here:

https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2019/08/19/review-1384-the-spoilt-city/

lzad's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

misslezlee's review against another edition

3.0

The War creeps closer to Bucharest. The Germans arrive and life becomes more difficult for the English in Bucharest. Some of them depart, some choose to remain. Harriett discovers more about her husband and begins to question whether her marriage was a good idea. There are beautiful descriptions of the city, the mountains, the parks and gardens and a lot of talking. The talking about politics is pretty dry and boring. One afternoon, just once, Guy puts his arm around Harriett’s waist and they go to their bedroom. The next sentence is about Guy getting dressed so I presume they didn’t just take a siesta. At the end, Guy is still in Bucharest while Harriett has escaped to Athens. To be continued.

toniapeckover's review

3.0

Second book in the Balkan Trilogy - as intriguing and interesting as the first installment. Manning's characters are so maddening and human in the face of WWII. Of course, they don't know what's coming like the reader does, but their blithe, confident obliviousness is a little too close to home for me some days.

neom's review

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

gh7's review

3.0

One thing staunchly autobiographical novels reveal is how unlike a novel individual lives are. Because if our lives have a plot it probably takes an entire lifetime to work out what it is! It's fascinating here to spot which characters Manning has elaborated to inscribe some narrative drive into the book. Obvious candidate is Prince Yakimov, probably a character she knew but to whom she imparts more agency than he probably had in real life. Even so, these books don't have a great deal of plot. They're more like studies of character under pressure. Few come out of this trial well, most notably the buffoon of a husband who I suspect might have filed for divorce after reading this novel.
A slightly irritating factor is these three books are not separate novels. You couldn't read the second without having read the first but Manning keeps inserting prosaic recaps for those who didn't read the first book. I gave the first instalment four stars so I'll give this one three because both merit 3.5 in my eyes.

muggsyspaniel's review

4.0

More excellent stuff from Manning as she continues to follow the English colony in Bucharest.
Still centered around Harriet and her husband Guy, this time things are even more serious as the German war machine begins it's steady advance and the Iron Guardists begin to take a grip on the country.
The characters of the first book are all still in place and the tensions of living right in the middle of a neutral country gradually drifting towards the axis powers through circumstances and self preservation are captured brilliantly.

giovannnaz's review

4.0

This is the second book in Manning's 'The Balkan Trilogy'--The first two books take place in Bucharest, starting at the beginning of WWII and up to just about the time the Germans invade. The books are swallowing me up--so much detail, conversation, psychology...

lnatal's review

3.0

The second book on the Balkan trilogy.