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"And for Stella observation had been her way of life." "Moving around the world, she was always alert, always curious, but comfortable also in the knowledge that, in the last resort, this was nothing to do with her." "There it is, she thought, As he said. There it is. I had my chance to belong - to be Leggi tutto

This is the first Penelope Lively book I read having bought it at a sale recently. To me the book spoke personally. Being an older woman myself, as one who has retired from a lifelong much-loved job a couple of years ago, I was deeply moved by the fact that, inspite of living in another country, in

A re-read of a favourite author, from 1998. Not perhaps my favourite of her books, but an interesting view of country life from the perspective of a newcomer to a Somerset village. Quite dark in places. She leaves the village, but we do not know what she does next, can only guess she continues her t Leggi tutto

Spiderweb is the very well done story of Stella, a newly-retired cultural anthropologist. She buys a small cottage in a small village in Somerset, England. Stella shows the reason for studying small communities and kinships all over the world. Possibly because she already knew she "never had much ta Leggi tutto

Beautifully written - I would say it was a joy to read but it was rather too realistic a view of village life for me. Certainly not Ambridge and no one would want Karen and her pyromaniac sons living within a hundred miles of them let alone along the lane. And now I’ve remembered the dog. Definitely Leggi tutto