Welcome to Litsy!

Widowed Kate has married the younger, much less well off & apparently alcoholic Dermot, to general disapproval. Her young adult son is more interested in seducing girls than doing his job in his grandfather‘s business, her teenage daughter is infatuated with the local curate who is flirting with Rome, & live-in Aunt Ethel reports her slightly salacious interpretations of events in letters to a friend. A juicy slice middle class life in the 1960s.

This reminds me of Barbara Pym novel but with sex. Nothing much happens. Just a view into people's everyday lives. Has one my pet peeves - overly long chapters. I hate to stop in the middle of a chapter. I found myself losing interest because it rambled on. If chapters had been shorter, could have read a few pages here and there and it would have been more enjoyable. ⬇️

A gentle summer read , more focused on human nature and behaviour of bygone days & English summer times of years gone . Nothing dramatic overly happens until the end and to me everything was innocent and maybe foolish but no adultery . Anyway first of Elizabeth Taylor‘s won‘t be my last but still at the moment prefer my beloved Elizabeth Jane Howard

Love ❤️ it how the old remark on the young and vice Versa somethings never change .

😂😂

“It often happens at the change of life a sudden interest in sex! “ 😂the second half of this wonderful little book - the return of the Thorntons- is full of wonderfully witty human observations, making me chuckle 🤭 out loud. It‘s the first Elizabeth Taylor iv ever read and it won‘t be the last , Ethel and Gertrude 2 old ladies smoking after afternoon tea , their family gossip and demeanours remind me of my Gran & great aunts god bless ‘em .

#bookspinbingo pick #summerreading #augustreads in anticipation of a British summer actually happening it‘s time for a summer themed read , purchase in hatchards in Piccadilly years ago and there its sat on my shelf . So finally my first time of the highly rated Elizabeth Taylor and already I‘m loving the build up of tense within this family. Her writing reminds me alittle of my much loved Elizabeth Jane Howard

#Bookreport / #Weeklyforecast it‘s been a slow reading week.

After much bailing and indecision ( and frustration) I am now happily reading Elizabeth Taylor. 😅

Happy reading week all.
Hi Cindy ♥️

Finally. The awning is up. The deck set up. The weather cooperating. Reading in my happy place! #summerreading

These summery reads are up next on my TBR. #summerreading

I‘m starting this one today. I know it says “summer “ on the cover, but all the flowers have me thinking spring. I hope this is a lighter read than the Dorothy Whipple I bailed on yesterday. 🤞🏼

#springhassprung #literaryluck

I'm not sure why I didn't enjoy this as much as her others. It has all the hallmarks of her best, character-driven, little plot, pathos, beautifully realised internal voices. And yet I just didn't warm to it

After a morning of flat titivation (Finally getting some pictures on the walls!) I'm rewarding myself with a cinnamon bun and a seasonally inappropriate Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth Taylor's work is criminally underrated. She had such a wonderful tone and facility for captivated the lives of her characters. I wouldn't be surprised if people mistake get for her more famous namesake #underratedbook #31bookpics @howjessreads

Elizabeth Taylor is my go-to palate cleanser for now. Her narratives are so light and subtle you feel that you‘re a ghost floating around the characters.

Kate Heron is a wealthy widow with two adult kids. She married a guy 10 years her junior - it‘s fun, but the age gap also presents problems. As usual, there‘s nothing much going on in Taylor‘s novels. It‘s a story where nothing happens! Except that this book has a decisive twist at the end 😑

Because I cannot read just one book at a time 😣

A book on my TBR with #floralcover
#riotgrams

#aprilbookshowers day 6: #publishedinthe1960s
I combed through my shelves pulling out books I was sure were 1960s publications. But a lot of them turned out to be 1970s or 1950s. I did manage to find these although it's only the first books in both the Earthsea and A Wrinkle in Time series that were published in the 60s. But the 60s sure were a great time to start some unforgettable series!

We are on the long drive home today so this is from yesterday. Perfect weather for a morning on the beach. Sunny but not too hot. The kids had fun playing with the sand and running in the water and I got to do a spot of reading right on the beach.