Britannia Mews

This novel is perfection. It is a brilliant, bountiful story with unforgettable characters, written with heart by an author whose expertise is both meticulous and fluid. We follow the story of Adelaide Lambert ( née Culver) from her young childhood years in the 1800’s through to the last days of her l Leggi tutto

Margery Sharp wrote books of different genres. I have read only (for now) her coming-of-age, young-adult romance ( Cluny Brown ), a psychological study ( Martha series ), and now this kind of family saga (and social changes from the end of the XIX century to the end of IIWW). In each case, there was wit Leggi tutto

Many of the female writers of midcentury Britain use their fiction to question the British class system; in Britannia Mews, Margery Sharp takes a wrecking ball to it. She targets upper-middle-class pretensions with relentless marksmanship and leaves them in the rubble of World War II London. (In fac Leggi tutto

Britannia Mews (1946) is my fourth Margery Sharp novel and probably my favourite so far. Beginning in the 1870s and taking us through to the 1940s, it follows the story of Adelaide Culver from childhood to old age. We first meet Adelaide as a curious ten-year-old exploring Britannia Mews, a London s Leggi tutto

Britannia Mews is the story of Adelaide Lambert – born Adelaide Culver – from childhood to very old age. Born into a prosperous Victorian family, as a child Adelaide would sneak round to the forbidden Britannia Mews tucked between the streets of conventional middle class homes. Here the coachmen fro Leggi tutto

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Deb, for the loan of this one. It's not likely that I would have found it on my own, but it's a charming...I'm looking for the right description, and the best I'm managing is that it's a charming coming of age story...it actually takes us from childhood to old age with th Leggi tutto

There's plenty of description of the plot of Brittania Mews on goodreads. I'll just say that while I did find the early parts a bit painful to read, it's been quite a while since I wallowed with such absorption in a novel. This is the third novel of Sharp's that I've read, and is easily the best so

This might be a 4.75. For much of the book I was delighted and couldn't wait to see what happened. But just a little bit towards the end I felt like it could have been tightened up a bit.