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The Bloater | Rosemary Tonks

3 posts | 3 read | 2 to read

A rediscovered literary classic, The Bloater is a rollicking hothouse novel where love and repulsion are two paths to the same abyss Why do the only men I know carry wet umbrellas and say “Umm?” I’m being starved alive. Quick: the first bookshop for a copy of the Kama-Sutra. Min works at the BBC as a sound engineer, and in theory she’s married, but her husband George is so invisible that she accidentally turns the lights off even when he’s still in the room. Luckily, she has her friends and lovers to distract her: in Min’s self-lacerating, bracingly opinionated voice, life boils down to sex appeal—and of late she’s being courted by an internationally renowned opera singer whom she refers to as The Bloater (a swelled, salted herring). Disgusted by and attracted to him in equal measure, her dilemma—which reaches a hysterical, hilarious pitch—is whether to sleep with him or not. Rosemary Tonks—the salt and pepper of the earth—is a writer who gets her claws into the reader with all the joy of a cat and a mouse. Vain and materialistic, tender and savage, narrated in brilliant, sparkling prose, The Bloater is the perfect snapshot of London in the 1960s.

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The_Penniless_Author

The Bloater | Rosemary Tonks

pick

A fun, fizzy comedy of manners about a young, married woman in late-60s London and the two other men who are pursuing her. There's not much of a plot here, to be honest, but that's just fine. Sometimes a story is just a delivery vehicle for witty observations and dialogue, and this book has got both in spades. I shall forever more refer to gout as "one of the great horizontal diseases". ?

Ruthiella Another Backlisted podcast recommendation! š‘¨ 2mo

The_Penniless_Author @Ruthiella That's 99% of my TBR list at this point. š„ 2mo

Suet624 I appreciate your line ā€Sometimes a story is just a delivery vehicle for witter observations and dialogue..ā€ It's so true. 1mo

40 likes1 stack add3 comments

brushlo

The Bloater | Rosemary Tonks

pick

i am part of a book of the month club and they are always sending interesting new books. maybe their books are more literature than my typical fareā€¦but they are always engaging and challenging. the bloater is no exception. a look inside boredom, relationships and our own internal conflicts.

4 likes