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Deb Rhodes
, April 11, 2017
(view all comments by Deb Rhodes)
I loved this novel centering on an English summer holiday shared by two old friends, Liz and Camilla. The characters in this novel are colorful and intriguing, and (as is true in life) most of them haven't a clue as to what the others are really thinking, or what motivates them.
Camilla and Liz have a feeling of estrangement between them for the first time, though neither could say exactly why for they haven't quarreled. Richard, the strange man Camilla has been sort of seeing on the sly, is not in the habit of telling the truth about anything. Perhaps because of this she finds him challenging and hard to let go of when she knows it would be in her best interest. Liz's husband, a clergyman, proves to be a trial to Camilla and to Liz a constant source of worry and obstinacy. She wants to please him but at the same time chafes at the duties expected of her as his wife.
Their summer hostess, Frances, wants nothing more but to spend her days painting, but she shuns the typical trappings of an artistic lifestyle, deliberately not allowing herself to act like an artist. She is at an age when physical limitations begin to slow her down and she realizes that she is probably about to paint her last painting ever. These characters (and more) populate this novel that carries its own deceptively delicate rhythm. Once more Elizabeth Taylor triumphs in showing us the inner lives of every day people.
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