List Appertaining To Books The Camomile Lawn
| Title | : | The Camomile Lawn |
| Author | : | Mary Wesley |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 352 pages |
| Published | : | June 1st 2006 by Vintage (first published 1984) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. War. World War II. European Literature. British Literature |
Mary Wesley
Paperback | Pages: 352 pages Rating: 3.86 | 3072 Users | 233 Reviews
Chronicle To Books The Camomile Lawn
Behind the large house, the fragrant camomile lawn stretches down to the Cornish cliffs. Here, in the dizzying heat of August 1939, five cousins have gathered at their aunt's house for their annual ritual of a holiday. For most of them it is the last summer of their youth, with the heady exhilarations and freedoms of lost innocence, as well as the fears of the coming war.The Camomile Lawn moves from Cornwall to London and back again, over the years, telling the stories of the cousins, their family and their friends, united by shared losses and lovers, by family ties and the absurd conditions imposed by war as their paths cross and recross over the years. Mary Wesley presents an extraordinarily vivid and lively picture of wartime London: the rationing, imaginatively circumvented; the fallen houses; the parties, the new-found comforts of sex, the desperate humour of survival - all of it evoked with warmth, clarity and stunning wit. And through it all, the cousins and their friends try to hold on to the part of themselves that laughed and played dangerous games on that camomile lawn.
Particularize Books In Favor Of The Camomile Lawn
| Original Title: | The Camomile Lawn |
| ISBN: | 0099499142 (ISBN13: 9780099499145) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Oliver, Calypso, Polly, Walter, Aunt Helena, Uncle Richard Cuthbertso |
| Setting: | Cornwall, England(United Kingdom) London, England(United Kingdom) |
Rating Appertaining To Books The Camomile Lawn
Ratings: 3.86 From 3072 Users | 233 ReviewsColumn Appertaining To Books The Camomile Lawn
This novel starts in 1935, with a group of five cousins, visiting the house of their Aunt Helena and Uncle Richard, for a holiday by the sea. There is the beautiful Calypso, siblings Walter and Polly, the brooding Oliver and young, unwanted Sophy. Add to the mix the Rectors twin sons, David and Paul and their guests, Max and Monika, married refugees, and you have the main cast of the novel.Although this begins before the war, most of the book takes place during the war and revolves around theseMary Wesley has been on my 'to read' list for a very long time. I had heard that she didn't have her first book published until she was in her 70's and that she'd had amazing success after this, her 'breakthrough' novel. So when I saw it on the library shelf last week I grabbed it.Written in 1984 the language is obviously not quite contemporary, but see past that and you will find a beautifully crafted novel, full of surprises, twists and turns, which will keep you guessing until the end. The
I'm not sure what the point of this book really was...the story of an extended family set in WWII London and Cornwall. The book jumps back and forth between the war experiences and the future when most of the characters are heading to a funeral and reminiscing about those times. These people need to expand their social circle because they all just sleep with each other throughout the book. Cousins with cousins, aunts & uncles with nephews & nieces, a few neighbors get into the mix and
I'd heard good things about this book and duly sought it out like a sort of bibliophilic blood hound. When I say I'd heard good things I didn't actually know anything about it; the title and the inclusion of the word Camomile immediately planted seeds of ideas including tameness, anodine blandness and a sort of natural flavour which isn't necessarily to everyone's taste. Bam! Wrong!This book is World War II with sexy edges and a sexual liberation that people rightly or wrongly do not ever
One of my favorites. I loved it so much I named two of my children after characters in this book.
I devoured this book about 25 years ago with great enjoyment - and so approached the re-read expecting disappointment. However, Wesley's crisp prose, her dry acerbity underpinned with wit and kindness, as she sets out the complicated and interwoven loves of her (post-)war characters won me over anew. I suspect that's because they fall into three distinct generations (young - middle - old) and, thanks to the time-span, we see most of them at two points in their lives. First time round, I read it
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