Author: Jacky Gillott
Year of publication: 1975, Coronet edition 1976
Back cover blurb: 'Olivia Bennet has everything. A stable marriage, a comfortable country house, a highly successful career as a romantic novelist and the looks and figure of a woman half her age.
But two things threaten this shell of content: the death of her mother and the behaviour of her children as they develop beyond the limits of her understanding and sympathy. As an uncomfortable and sometimes violent reality forces its way into her romantic fiction life, Olivia discovers the true romance.'
Quick flick reveals: I was attracted to this book because of the magnificent knitwear/fur combo being sported on the front. (Just how cold was it that day?) On the back cover is a photo of the same woman, this time on a bike. Scan available on request. Anyway, after giving the book a little skim, the knitwear is still the most appealing thing about it for me, as the contents just seem a bit grim. A proper reading, however, may well reveal riches.
Author Gillott sadly killed herself in 1980. On a lighter note, she did once throw Bernard Levin to the floor after he boasted that he could whirl her above his head.
Random paragraph: 'So she was truly dead, then. Buried, The earth had been cast and the words intoned. Like a winter plantation thay had grouped around the grave, the breeze lifting webs of black veil and the snowy garments of the priest. As in a dream.'
Purchase
No comments:
Post a Comment