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siria's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A bleakly humorous novel about conformity and displacement, set during the last year of WW2. The Davenants spend a year living in a rented house—the Mrs Lippincote's of the title—and through Elizabeth Taylor's eyes we observe how they interact with one another and with the world around them. Taylor's approach to her main characters is deft and emotionally intelligent—they are sometimes awful but mostly just recognisably muddling through life; sometimes sympathetic but rarely likeable.
The secondary characters, particularly the group of working-class (gasp) Communists with whom one of the Davenants falls in with, convince less. There are some moments of observation here that are truly pleasurable to read, but there was something about Taylor's prose that I struggled to get on with: something disjointed, opaque. There was also a brief, jarring bout of antisemitism in one chapter.
A solid book, but I can't say it's one that has me dying to rush out and read more of Taylor's work.
The secondary characters, particularly the group of working-class (gasp) Communists with whom one of the Davenants falls in with, convince less. There are some moments of observation here that are truly pleasurable to read, but there was something about Taylor's prose that I struggled to get on with: something disjointed, opaque. There was also a brief, jarring bout of antisemitism in one chapter.
A solid book, but I can't say it's one that has me dying to rush out and read more of Taylor's work.
Content Warnings
Minor: Antisemitism
laila4343's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this, I loved this, I loved this. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer to get this author into my life. Also, one of my favorite mother-son relationships in a book ever.
taylorelm's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.5
poachedeggs's review against another edition
3.0
It's kind of cool that I read this after one of Kingsley Amis's books, as the foreword to this opens with a reference to Amis having admired Taylor's writing.
Strangely, there was also the mention of 'greengages' here - something I'd never heard of before, but which also popped up in Amis (and which appears in the title of a Rumer Godden novel I have on my to-read list for this season).
Strangely, there was also the mention of 'greengages' here - something I'd never heard of before, but which also popped up in Amis (and which appears in the title of a Rumer Godden novel I have on my to-read list for this season).
marci7's review
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
flick_reads's review against another edition
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0