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Brief Lives
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
13 posts | 6 read | 20 to read
With this novel, Booker Prize-winning author Anita Brookner confirms her reputation as an unparalleled observer of social nuance and deeply felt longings. Brief Lives chronicles an unlikely friendship: that between the flamboyant, monstrously egocentric Julia and the modest, self-effacing Fay, who is at once fascinated and appalled by Julia's excesses. Thrust together by their husbands' business partnership -- and by a guilty secret -- Julia and Fay develop an intense bond that is nonetheless something less than intimacy, a relationship in which we see our own uneasy compromises, not only with other people, but with life itself.
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BarbaraBB
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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Pickpick

This is a hard book to read. Unlikeable characters, dealing with life and each other. Anita Brookner is such a good writer of characters, I felt like a fly on the wall, observing their lives closely, feeling their solitude and aging. Thanks for the recommendation Sarah 🤍

sarahbarnes Great review! ♥️ I‘m so glad you liked it. I felt the same way. 1mo
Cathythoughts Great review, I loved it too. 1mo
65 likes4 stack adds2 comments
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BarbaraBB
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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#WeeklyForecast 38/24

I am looking forward to the tagged book thanks to @sarahbarnes recommendation but first I am a out to start Water, which @Megabooks loved. Penance will be a palette cleanser I think!

Amor4Libros Looking forward to your review of Water. I love John Boyne 😊 2mo
sarahbarnes Ah, I hope you love it! Can‘t wait to hear. ♥️ 2mo
squirrelbrain I‘ve had Penance on the TBR shelf for some time….. 2mo
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Megabooks Penance sounded dark to me, so lmk what you think. (Tag me please!) Water was so fantastic. I think Earth is coming up this week or next! 2mo
BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain @Megabooks I‘ll keep you both posted on 😘😘 2mo
BarbaraBB @Amor4Libros @Megabooks I love Boyne too and have high hopes for this one. Love that it is a quartet! 2mo
Amor4Libros @BarbaraBB Oh, I did not know it was a quartet. Need to start reading! 2mo
LeahBergen I‘ve been wanting to read Penance! 2mo
TheLudicReader I found Penance a tough go. Might have just been my head space. 2mo
48 likes9 comments
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sarahbarnes
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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Another stunning Brookner that left me in awe. Her storytelling and character development are truly impeccable. I wanted to shake both Fay and Julia throughout the book but I also understood them so deeply. What a writer. ♥️

BarbaraBB I hardly know Brookner, have only read the tagged one, but now I am very interested in reading more by her! 3mo
sarahbarnes @BarbaraBB I loved that one, too. Her writing is just so incredible. 3mo
Centique I love her as well. Ive read four of her books i think and enjoyed every one. Must get to this one! 2mo
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Reggie I have not managed to make my way through a Brookner. Maybe I just picked the wrong one. 2mo
sarahbarnes @Centique I can‘t wait to get to another one by her! 2mo
sarahbarnes @Reggie her books are definitely slow and without much plot, which is kind of my jam but I can definitely see how it might try your patience. 😂 2mo
Cathythoughts I remember loving this one. She‘s a beautiful writer. 2mo
40 likes1 stack add7 comments
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andrew61
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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My 1st Brookner left me spellbound at the beauty of her writing, every word and sentence expresses so much about the frailties of the human experience. The story is abt 2 women, narrated by Fay who seems linked through her life to julia who she does not like but has to endure.julia draws people to her who she can then knock down while Fay looks on seeking to escape this woman but never seeming able to do so. Ill definitely read more by her.

TrishB Great review 👍🏻 3y
erzascarletbookgasm I‘ll like to read more by her too. I liked Hotel du Luc. 3y
Tamra Stacked! 3y
Cathythoughts Beautiful review! I loved this book 3y
Centique I have this on my TBR and I‘m glad to hear it‘s so good. I love Brookner too. 😍 3y
43 likes2 stack adds5 comments
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DrSabrinaMoldenReads
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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Amazing is the word for this book. In less than 300 pages Fay perfectly conveys, in first person, her complex, conflictual, inexplicable adult life. Although supposedly a novel, her story is believable as any memoir I have read; I am thinking she continues to exist somewhere. Actually she does because there are many Fays that we may know. I have not even yet mentioned her odd relationship with Julia. Reading more Anita Brookner is a must for me.

Cinfhen Beautiful review 5y
merelybookish I would stack it but I already have it stacked! 😀 5y
BarbaraBB Great review. I stack! 5y
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Cathythoughts I love this writer & I loved this book too ❤️❤️❤️ 5y
batsy Lovely review. I loved her first novel and look forward to reading more of her work! 5y
39 likes1 stack add6 comments
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DrSabrinaMoldenReads
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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DrSabrinaMoldenReads
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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I am going to miss Fay and her thoughts so much when this book ends. I can wait to hear what she is going to be into next as each chapter unfurls. I hope Brookner has other characters In her books whomI will love.

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DrSabrinaMoldenReads
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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Whose brave? 👵🏽

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DrSabrinaMoldenReads
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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Loving Anita Brookner‘ story and her writing.

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DrSabrinaMoldenReads
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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She was not a very nice woman but neither am I.

( I have fallen for this book in 5 pages. 🤣)

BarbaraBB Great quote! 5y
DrSabrinaMoldenReads I could go on and on with her making it so real @BarbaraBB 🤣 5y
29 likes2 comments
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Cathythoughts
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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This is my 2d Anita Brookner on Audible & I have another one ready to go. She is quoted as saying “I feel I could get myself into the Guinness book of records as the worlds loneliest, most miserable woman” narrated brilliantly by Anna Massey. I feel her characters as autobiographical & I love her books. Very beautiful writing and very honest. About lonely women , stiff upper lip , but we hear the thoughts beneath the facade. Love her writing ❤️

youneverarrived Sounds like a book I‘d like! Stacking 👍🧡 6y
Cathythoughts @youneverarrived I heard of her first here on Litsy.... very entertaining too X 6y
merelybookish I've always meant to read her... 6y
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Cathythoughts @merelybookish I really like her 👍🏻💫 6y
batsy Beautiful review. Stacking! I've only read one of hers and always wanted to read more. 6y
Cathythoughts @batsy oh great. I hope you love it when you get to it. She has me captive at the moment.. 6y
57 likes4 stack adds6 comments
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Cathythoughts
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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Audio is back ! The writing & the narrator are both stunning.... so insightful & enjoyable 👍🏻❤️

45 likes1 stack add
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Cathythoughts
Brief Lives | Anita Brookner
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I‘ve gone very slow on the audio lately. I‘ll try this one - Brief Lives ... and maybe get a bit of housework done 😵🙄

Cathythoughts Update ... this is my second A Brookner .. I also read Hotel de Lac ( won Booker Prize 1984) But , so far ... I prefer this one. She is definitely for me, as a writer 👍🏻❤️ (edited) 6y
45 likes1 comment