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Loved reading this Penelope Lively novel first published in 1977 - very quiet and thoughtful - about an “ordinary” woman around 40, driving to and from her family home in Cuxing to her childhood home in Lichfield to visit her dying father and sort out his affairs. Revisiting the past brings her to question her own life and the compromises she has made. Set in the early 70s the ways in which it feels dated are interesting too.

This was the first book for adults written by Lively although published much later. It‘s about a forty year old woman who is forced to confront her past and her present as she spends time with her father who is dying in a nursing home some hours drive from her home. It explores our understandings of past and present, family and relationships and the compromises we all make Whilst beautifully written it is not as engaging as her later work

Anne groped in her pocket for the car keys, found them, stared down at them, and said to this stranger, “my father‘s going to die”. Yes said David fielding, yes I‘m afraid he is. And he laid his hand for an instant on her arm, removing it almost at once so that it was only later, at another time, that she felt his touch , in the way in which recollection can sometimes be more real than the experience itself.

While her elderly father drifts in and out of coherence & consciousness in a nursing home, Anne begins packing up the family home. A revelation from the past calls her memories into question & a new acquaintance casts doubt over her future. A quiet story about the ways in which our understanding of the past can affect the present.

I can relate.

I believe this was Lively‘s debut novel of a prolific writer, and I‘m glad I read it. I‘ve enjoyed her writing sine reading Moon Tiger years ago. An examination of history - personal and societal - and the first time I‘ve seen the position of Town Clerk mentioned in fiction. 🙂

#currentread

Novelist Lynn Cullen mentioned Lively recently, reminding me of my love for her. Requested the first book of hers available from the library.