Welcome to Litsy!

An old secret comes to light with the discovery of a long hidden photograph. Kath, the subject of the photograph, though long dead, is a haunting presence throughout the story and felt more real to me than the living characters as they grapple with their memories of her and with the new fact the photograph reveals. Plenty to think about.

A widower finds a photograph of his diseased wife discretely but intimately holding hands with another man.

While the response lights up obsessive, if cooly reptilian, thoughts, with emotions circling, it's still a thinner baseline to a story than I might have anticipated. But it's well written, and I enjoyed it.

Used bookstore haul. Took my daughter to get a new passport (which takes 5-7 weeks and she leaves in 5 weeks. Eek. 😳). Afterwards we stopped by a used bookstore. I‘ve never read Brookner.

Quite sad. Makes you consider the relationships in your life. What assumptions do we make about others, even those closest to us? Are we really seeing them, really listening? My first Lively. Definitely interested in reading more of her work.

I love penelope lively's novels and this one was a well told story about the impact of an individual kath upon those around them when those closest only see them in their role towards them wife, sister, sister in law + not the individual behind the beautiful facade. The bk opens with glynn, widower, finding an envelope + a warning not to open, inside a photo causes upheaval within the family of kath + a revision of the life of the woman. Loved it.

I devoured this in two days, and yet it is not exactly a light read. Nor is it dark. But it is inexorably real. Lively holds up a mirror showing just how much the people we "know" are constructs of our own needs and desires, and how little we really know others, even those we purport to love. I figured out the manner of Kath's death before it was revealed, but that did not detract from the (sometimes bleak) beauty of his book.

Finally home from work and able to start a new book! I got this at a library sale I don't even know how long ago! #readingdowntheTBR

Dearest Littens, posting this again for anyone new to Litsy and who wants to join in #somethingforsept #septphotochallenge Today is Day 17/18 depending on your time zone. And thank you again to everyone who has been taking part! I've loved seeing all your posts and can't wait for the rest!

Listening to the audiobook of a book read long ago is enriching. Narration casts characters in a new lush light. I must listen to all Penelope's books to discover a beloved author anew.