Girly-Man

My friend, the hilarious novelist Jennifer Colt, went to the bottom of the bucket of invectives she totes around with her and slung a "girly-man" at me several weeks ago.  (Apparently, I don't do enough drafts of my books to suit her.)

A girly-man?  That means I stay out of jail, get higher SAT scores, and read fiction?  Okay with me.

Why do I bring this up?  Doctor, it's my weakness for female British novelists.  I've 'fessed up to my attraction to Anita Brookner's oeuvre before.  Now another one.  Penelope Lively.  Yesterday, with only a break for dinner, I read her City of the Mind about a London architect who loses love and finds it again.  The inhabitants of contemporary London are seen as temporary occupants of what's really an eternal city.  Not everything in this book works -- the flashbacks are contrived, but the main story is terrific.  If I were going to start with one of Ms. Lively's books, though, I would pick her tour de force, Heat.

Comments

[Jennifer Colt, Hilarious Novelist]

She slings best who slings last. (Who asked me if the photo on my bookmark was from my high school yearbook?) xoxox
Jennifer "Please Send Money" Colt

[patti abbott]

Just read one-The Photograph, but will try another. A great children's writer too.
Yes, the Brits had quite a bunch mid to late century: Elizabeth Taylor, Barbara Pym, Brookner a bit later. And one of my favorites, the Irish Mary Lavin. Do you know her work?

[Keith Raffel]

Patti, I really enjoyed The Photograph. Who else? Early Margaret Drabble, Doris Lessing. I'm not sure if Jean Rhys quite fits. Mary Lavin? Will have to give her a try.

As for you, Jennifer....

[Clare Langley-Hawthorne]

Keith
I never realized you were a Penelope Lively fan too! A friend of mine went on w writing course in Italy last year and Ms Lively was one of the instructors - I was very jealous! I still love Moon Tiger - must be the hopeless romantic in me (although we did this in book group and the narrator/protagonist was univesally was proclaimed 'extremely unlikeable' by my group. I'm just a sucker for the English!

[Keith Raffel]

Clare, I guess we colonials are still looking to the Mother Country. I'd sure as heck like to travel to Italy to take a course from Penelope Lively.