Penelope Lively wrote one of my favorite novels, Passing On, about a middle-aged brother and sister who live with their domineering mother until the mother dies, and what happens then:
nothing too dramatic but like replacing dark, heavy drapes with light muslin ones.
I was interested to see Lively has published a memoir at the age of eighty. Not quite a memoir, she says, "but a view from old age."
I searched for it at the library and couldn't find it by its title, Ammonites & Leaping Fish. It occurred to me it might have a different title in the US, so I searched by author, and sure enough, in the US it's called Dancing Fish and Ammonites.
Even the subtitle has changed, from A Life in Time to A Memoir.
It gets a different cover too. I like the US cover (me, a Pisces), but doesn't it seem spiritually sciencey, like Barbara Kingsolver? Or even slightly salacious, like Mary Renault?
In fact, Lively's writing isn't a saucy frolic; it is rather tight and dry, more like an ammonite, which is one of the things I love about her.
USA cover, left; UK cover, right
I rarely buy new books, but since this is still on order at the local library, I just ordered it through A Site That Shall Remain Unnamed––a hardcover UK edition, only $11.16 + shipping ($3.99, though it ships from England).
nothing too dramatic but like replacing dark, heavy drapes with light muslin ones.
I was interested to see Lively has published a memoir at the age of eighty. Not quite a memoir, she says, "but a view from old age."
I searched for it at the library and couldn't find it by its title, Ammonites & Leaping Fish. It occurred to me it might have a different title in the US, so I searched by author, and sure enough, in the US it's called Dancing Fish and Ammonites.
Even the subtitle has changed, from A Life in Time to A Memoir.
It gets a different cover too. I like the US cover (me, a Pisces), but doesn't it seem spiritually sciencey, like Barbara Kingsolver? Or even slightly salacious, like Mary Renault?
In fact, Lively's writing isn't a saucy frolic; it is rather tight and dry, more like an ammonite, which is one of the things I love about her.
I rarely buy new books, but since this is still on order at the local library, I just ordered it through A Site That Shall Remain Unnamed––a hardcover UK edition, only $11.16 + shipping ($3.99, though it ships from England).
American fish don't leap, they DANCE! Dance, fish! You DESERVE it!
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the American release of "Bleak House"? It's called "House of Second Chances".
--Marz