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A review by sathyasekar
Simonetta Perkins by L.P. Hartley, Margaret Drabble
3.0
A beautiful novelette recounting the inner conflicts of a young lady who discovers herself falling in love with a gondolier in Venice.
Through most of the book, the author lets us explore the lead character through her thoughts and emotions as she chooses to divulge them to herself. The prose is outstanding. I have much admired Mr Hartley in my earlier readings - Go Between, the Eustace and Hilda trilogy, The Hireling.. All brilliant. But it has been a while since I read him and this book brought back to mind why I so admired him. The way he seems to pluck the innermost thoughts and then dress them up in beautiful words is sheer genius. Human mind and human emotions are rather complex things and Hartley appears to be on a journey to unravel their mysteries.
I think this deserved a bigger canvas. I felt it too short and was disappointed when it ended in a most understated way, quite typically.
Through most of the book, the author lets us explore the lead character through her thoughts and emotions as she chooses to divulge them to herself. The prose is outstanding. I have much admired Mr Hartley in my earlier readings - Go Between, the Eustace and Hilda trilogy, The Hireling.. All brilliant. But it has been a while since I read him and this book brought back to mind why I so admired him. The way he seems to pluck the innermost thoughts and then dress them up in beautiful words is sheer genius. Human mind and human emotions are rather complex things and Hartley appears to be on a journey to unravel their mysteries.
I think this deserved a bigger canvas. I felt it too short and was disappointed when it ended in a most understated way, quite typically.