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jola_g's review against another edition
4.0
The Percival family mansion 'Marathon', Hollywood Road, East Belfast. 3:57 PM. The tea is ready. Laura Percival is standing in front of the closed door, carrying a tray. Her hands are shaking. The clock is striking four. She is knocking at the door and entering the room...
This scene is repeated a few times in ‘Tea at Four O’Clock’ (1956) by Janet McNeill. Nothing special at first sight but when you get to know the Percivals, you will find the image really significant.
I finished this book yesterday and now I am trying hard to say goodbye to its protagonists but no way. They keep lingering in my mind as if they were real people I've met face to face. Small wonder, as ‘Tea at Four O’Clock’ is one of the best psychological novels I've ever read.
The title and the cover may seem to promise you warm cosiness but don't expect much of that. The tea Janet McNeill serves us is strong, bitter and dark. Nevertheless, I was drawn to it from the first sip.
The protagonists are three siblings: Mildred, Laura and George Percival. Thanks to flashbacks we get to know the family's past too. The characters are all fully realized and difficult to judge unequivocally. Something I adore! The author turned out to be a skillful observer of human nature in all its complexity. Her findings are not optimistic, alas. Fortunately there is some humour too, especially thanks to Miss Parks.
Deciphering Mildred, Laura and George, getting to know them and their motives, and their complicated relationships also, is truly engaging. The portraits of protagonists are extremely detailed. Oddly enough, Mildred, one of the most vivid characters, is dead and the novel starts with her funeral. She is omnipresent anyway, both in the book and in her siblings’ lives.
The clash of personalities in ‘Tea at Four O’Clock’ is very intense and the tension between them affects not only the Percivals but the reader too. The atmosphere is dense, almost suffocating. There is something claustrophobic about this novel. The eerie mansion itself plays an important role in the book. I only wish there was more of Belfast and Ireland.
This subtle and nuanced book deals with grave issues: for instance the sense of guilt, rehashing failures, the way we affect other people, the limits of self-sacrifice, the power of habit, the influence of the past on our lives and choices. The portrait of the Percivals looks like an anti-model of a family and parenting. What went wrong? Well, almost everything. 'At Marathon they took pains to disguise their feelings, to move under cover of conventional behaviour' and that was one of the reasons they suffered.
Janet McNeill pulls at your heartstrings delicately, you even don’t notice, and suddenly you realize it's impossible to put the book down. Though the psychological analysis is very thorough, the novel isn’t boring. Some suspense and twists keep you busy.
‘Tea at Four O’Clock’ is a gripping, emotionally draining read. Its form and style are traditional, classic-like, and have a charming vintage feel. Most events we witness take place in the fifties but I had the impression that it was many years earlier. I was startled at first when a vacuum cleaner appeared.
The vacuum cleaner wasn't the only surprise, there were two more. First of all, how come this novel hasn’t been filmed yet?! Ironically, the name of the street where the Percivals live, is Hollywood Road. I hope we will see the adaptation one day. Another consternation: the novel and its author are almost completely forgotten. ‘Tea at Four O’Clock’ hasn’t been republished since 1988, as it seems. So few reviews and ratings... If my Goodreads friend Mary hadn’t recommended this sublime novel to me, I probably wouldn’t have come across it at all, that's why I feel very grateful. Huge thanks, dear Mary!
Pondering over ‘Tea at Four O’Clock’, wading through 'golden mists of recollection when we select what we wish to remember and what we would like to forget', I think this time I will not have to choose, as this book has already decided to stay with me.
This scene is repeated a few times in ‘Tea at Four O’Clock’ (1956) by Janet McNeill. Nothing special at first sight but when you get to know the Percivals, you will find the image really significant.
I finished this book yesterday and now I am trying hard to say goodbye to its protagonists but no way. They keep lingering in my mind as if they were real people I've met face to face. Small wonder, as ‘Tea at Four O’Clock’ is one of the best psychological novels I've ever read.
The title and the cover may seem to promise you warm cosiness but don't expect much of that. The tea Janet McNeill serves us is strong, bitter and dark. Nevertheless, I was drawn to it from the first sip.
The protagonists are three siblings: Mildred, Laura and George Percival. Thanks to flashbacks we get to know the family's past too. The characters are all fully realized and difficult to judge unequivocally. Something I adore! The author turned out to be a skillful observer of human nature in all its complexity. Her findings are not optimistic, alas. Fortunately there is some humour too, especially thanks to Miss Parks.
Deciphering Mildred, Laura and George, getting to know them and their motives, and their complicated relationships also, is truly engaging. The portraits of protagonists are extremely detailed. Oddly enough, Mildred, one of the most vivid characters, is dead and the novel starts with her funeral. She is omnipresent anyway, both in the book and in her siblings’ lives.
The clash of personalities in ‘Tea at Four O’Clock’ is very intense and the tension between them affects not only the Percivals but the reader too. The atmosphere is dense, almost suffocating. There is something claustrophobic about this novel. The eerie mansion itself plays an important role in the book. I only wish there was more of Belfast and Ireland.
This subtle and nuanced book deals with grave issues: for instance the sense of guilt, rehashing failures, the way we affect other people, the limits of self-sacrifice, the power of habit, the influence of the past on our lives and choices. The portrait of the Percivals looks like an anti-model of a family and parenting. What went wrong? Well, almost everything. 'At Marathon they took pains to disguise their feelings, to move under cover of conventional behaviour' and that was one of the reasons they suffered.
Janet McNeill pulls at your heartstrings delicately, you even don’t notice, and suddenly you realize it's impossible to put the book down. Though the psychological analysis is very thorough, the novel isn’t boring. Some suspense and twists keep you busy.
‘Tea at Four O’Clock’ is a gripping, emotionally draining read. Its form and style are traditional, classic-like, and have a charming vintage feel. Most events we witness take place in the fifties but I had the impression that it was many years earlier. I was startled at first when a vacuum cleaner appeared.
The vacuum cleaner wasn't the only surprise, there were two more. First of all, how come this novel hasn’t been filmed yet?! Ironically, the name of the street where the Percivals live, is Hollywood Road. I hope we will see the adaptation one day. Another consternation: the novel and its author are almost completely forgotten. ‘Tea at Four O’Clock’ hasn’t been republished since 1988, as it seems. So few reviews and ratings... If my Goodreads friend Mary hadn’t recommended this sublime novel to me, I probably wouldn’t have come across it at all, that's why I feel very grateful. Huge thanks, dear Mary!
Pondering over ‘Tea at Four O’Clock’, wading through 'golden mists of recollection when we select what we wish to remember and what we would like to forget', I think this time I will not have to choose, as this book has already decided to stay with me.
bgg616's review against another edition
5.0
Virago editions flourished in the 1980's, and I wasn't sure they were still around. I discovered that they are : http://www.virago.co.uk/authors/
but like many small presses they seem to have been subsumed by Little Brown. Nonetheless, it is thanks to Virago that many "forgotten" women writers and their work was brought back into print.
Tea At Four O'Clock was first published in 1956 and this edition in 1988. It is the story of Laura Percival, youngest daughter, and middle child of a staunch Protestant Belfast family, who have made their fortune in the city's linen industry. We meet Laura, now in her 40's, on the day of her older sister Mildred's funeral. Laura has lived a proscribed life in the family home, and in the recent years, she has cared for her ailing and demanding sister. The family home, Marathon, is a big house which is now surrounded by increasing sprawl and more modest homes. Marathon, though in the city, resembles other "big houses" we know in Irish literature. In her late teens and early twenties, Laura had a brief taste of independence when she attended art classes at the local industrial college. It was a glimpse into the world of her contemporaries who lived carefree, or it seemed to her, lives.
Her home, the people connected to her family through her father, and ultimately her family, have trapped Laura. The title refers to her sister's insistence of a daily ritual of tea at precisely four o'clock. When her sister dies, Laura immediately falls prey to people that she initially trusts, but we, the readers, do not. The odious Miss Parks, a former teacher, and former resident in her brother's, a clergyman, parsonage. She was ejected when the brother married, and one cannot help but wonder if it was to escape his strident sister. There is the family lawyer, and the family pastor, who also impose their unwanted advice. The day of Mildred's funeral, her estranged brother, George, appears at her door. George was disowned by his father as a n'er do well, and aimless spendthrift and her father's strict regime and attitude towards work and money, likely rooted in his Ulster Protestant values, couldn't abide such behavior.
This is a novel that could be read in a leisurely afternoon. I found it hard to put down and would have raced through it had I the time to devote. It is a portrayal of a woman's life that may resemble the lives of too many upper middle class women of her time and place. McNeill is masterful in developing a compelling portrayl of such a life, and this book should be considered a masterpiece of Ulster literature.
but like many small presses they seem to have been subsumed by Little Brown. Nonetheless, it is thanks to Virago that many "forgotten" women writers and their work was brought back into print.
Tea At Four O'Clock was first published in 1956 and this edition in 1988. It is the story of Laura Percival, youngest daughter, and middle child of a staunch Protestant Belfast family, who have made their fortune in the city's linen industry. We meet Laura, now in her 40's, on the day of her older sister Mildred's funeral. Laura has lived a proscribed life in the family home, and in the recent years, she has cared for her ailing and demanding sister. The family home, Marathon, is a big house which is now surrounded by increasing sprawl and more modest homes. Marathon, though in the city, resembles other "big houses" we know in Irish literature. In her late teens and early twenties, Laura had a brief taste of independence when she attended art classes at the local industrial college. It was a glimpse into the world of her contemporaries who lived carefree, or it seemed to her, lives.
Her home, the people connected to her family through her father, and ultimately her family, have trapped Laura. The title refers to her sister's insistence of a daily ritual of tea at precisely four o'clock. When her sister dies, Laura immediately falls prey to people that she initially trusts, but we, the readers, do not. The odious Miss Parks, a former teacher, and former resident in her brother's, a clergyman, parsonage. She was ejected when the brother married, and one cannot help but wonder if it was to escape his strident sister. There is the family lawyer, and the family pastor, who also impose their unwanted advice. The day of Mildred's funeral, her estranged brother, George, appears at her door. George was disowned by his father as a n'er do well, and aimless spendthrift and her father's strict regime and attitude towards work and money, likely rooted in his Ulster Protestant values, couldn't abide such behavior.
This is a novel that could be read in a leisurely afternoon. I found it hard to put down and would have raced through it had I the time to devote. It is a portrayal of a woman's life that may resemble the lives of too many upper middle class women of her time and place. McNeill is masterful in developing a compelling portrayl of such a life, and this book should be considered a masterpiece of Ulster literature.
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