"St Paul's cathedral stands like a cornered beast on Ludgate hill, taking deep breaths above the smoke. The fire has made terrifying progress ...
read full description
reviews
Jan 22, 2009
Bonnie
rated it: 
I am so very happy that Mary was long-listed for the Giller, and that she won the Ethel Wilson for this book. Well-deserved!
I have not read many historical fiction novels, but this didn't really "read" like a typical historical fiction. I read it not only once, but twice -- before it really "came out", and afterwards.
The first time I read it more for the story (although I couldn't not notice the excellent prose), and I read quickly. (Yes, I found it w More...
I have not read many historical fiction novels, but this didn't really "read" like a typical historical fiction. I read it not only once, but twice -- before it really "came out", and afterwards.
The first time I read it more for the story (although I couldn't not notice the excellent prose), and I read quickly. (Yes, I found it w More...
0 comments
like
(10 people liked it)
Apr 04, 2009
Shannon
rated it: 
17th-century England was no easy time for anyone, including Pegge, second-youngest daughter of the infamous poet and preacher John Donne. A strange girl with a slightly obsessive fascination for her father and a yearning for the kind of love he had with her mother, Ann, before her death several years before, Pegge has fixed her sights on Izaak Walton, a young fisherman the same age as her oldest sister Constance - whom Izaak loves despite Con's dismissive attitude and ambition.
From 1 More...
From 1 More...
3 comments
like
(10 people liked it)
Jan 30, 2012
Toni
rated it: 
Writing the novel must have been a very challenging and rewarding process for Mary Novik. She has successfully presented a rich old fashion story, centered on the life of Pegge Donne, daughter of love poet John Donne. The principal players: John Donne, his wife Anne More and their daughter Pegge relate alternately their life experiences.
Opening with a spectacular scene in London during the fury of the Great fire, you are immediately plunged into the world of passion, but not ordinary More...
Opening with a spectacular scene in London during the fury of the Great fire, you are immediately plunged into the world of passion, but not ordinary More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 05, 2009
Nicole
rated it:
Conceit (Merriam-Webster)
1 a (1): a result of mental activity: thought (2): individual opinion b: favorable opinion ; especially : excessive appreciation of one's own worth or virtue
2: a fancy item or trifle
3 a: a fanciful idea b: an elaborate or strained metaphor c: use or presence of such conceits in poetry d: an organizing theme or concept
I’m an enthusiastic historical fiction fan and I especially like medieval fiction, maybe because it is not as popular as oth More...
1 a (1): a result of mental activity: thought (2): individual opinion b: favorable opinion ; especially : excessive appreciation of one's own worth or virtue
2: a fancy item or trifle
3 a: a fanciful idea b: an elaborate or strained metaphor c: use or presence of such conceits in poetry d: an organizing theme or concept
I’m an enthusiastic historical fiction fan and I especially like medieval fiction, maybe because it is not as popular as oth More...
Jan 29, 2010
Mirella
rated it:
Winner of the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize
Longlisted for Scotiabank Giller Prize
A Quill and Quire Book of the Year
CONCEIT is the engaging story of Margaret More Donne (Pegge), the daughter of John Donne, a famed preacher and Jacobean author known for his sexual and bawdy poetry.
Set in 17th century England, the novel opens with the Great Fire of London in 1666. The story moves back and forth through the decades by way of flashbacks More...
Longlisted for Scotiabank Giller Prize
A Quill and Quire Book of the Year
CONCEIT is the engaging story of Margaret More Donne (Pegge), the daughter of John Donne, a famed preacher and Jacobean author known for his sexual and bawdy poetry.
Set in 17th century England, the novel opens with the Great Fire of London in 1666. The story moves back and forth through the decades by way of flashbacks More...
0 comments
like
(5 people liked it)
Jan 07, 2010
Asmah
rated it:
Mary Novik has written a seventeenth-century historical fiction, at the heart of which is Pegge Donne, one of the poet John Donne's daughters. Significant characters are her poet-priest father, her mother Ann More Donne, her siblings and children, some contemporary luminaries and other persons, and her husband Sir William Bowles. The gist is two generations of the Donnes' domestic lives-- courtship, marriage, childbirth, and dying--amid the backdrop of contemporary English events. Novik's style
More...
3 comments
like
(9 people liked it)
Aug 28, 2011
Dot
rated it:
I was drawn into this book immediately as the first chapter is set during the Great Fire of London in 1666. Mary Novik paints a clear picture of the panic and confusion and uses it to introduce her main character, Pegge Dunne as she struggles to rescue the statue of her father, the great John Donne, from St Paul's Cathedral as it burns to the ground.
While Pegge is the main character in the book, the story is is dominated by her flamboyant father who in his early life was a poet best k More...
While Pegge is the main character in the book, the story is is dominated by her flamboyant father who in his early life was a poet best k More...
Jul 17, 2011
Samantha
rated it:
Conceit is a good summer read light but still intriguing. That being said this feels like two separate books. One half is the twilight years the poet John Donne mixed in with the memories of the courting of his wife, Ann and the burgeoning adulthood of his daughter, Pegge. Once he dies though the focus is switched to Pegge and her husband, William Bowles focusing on their relationship. I really liked that all the characters were flawed in some way but it felt under developed. There was more to
More...
Jan 09, 2009
17th century social brutality, especially for women, but the men suffer losses too, sometimes stupidly. The novel makes me glad I came along later, but I was riveted to the "present" of the past. Vivid portrayals of historic ones like Jonne Donne, his daughter, his wife, Samuel Pepys- from inside their skulls. "Skull/s" is a key word in this book, but the book's beauty is in the (unexpected for me) passions of flowers, fish and fabric. Then the London fire of 1666 and its
More...
Dec 22, 2010
Ruth
rated it:
What is it they say? Well-behaved women are rarely remembered? While Pegge Donne, John and Ann's daughter, is the main character of this wonderful novel, she is her parents' child both literally and figuratively. There are moments of hilarity here, as when Pegge's husband consoles himself that he's protected her from something she shouldn't see - when in fact Pegge is the one who's removed her father's skeleton from its perch among the ruins of St. Paul's after London's Great Fire, bone by bone.
More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Mar 21, 2009
Lorina
rated it:
Mary Novik's 17th century novel, Conceit is a beautifully written story about the daughter of the famed poet, John Donne.
Almost tragic in her obsession with her parent's legendary love-affair, the protagonist, Pegge Donne, explores the depths of passion, betrayal, sexuality and her own attempt to navigate a confusing and perilous era in England, not only politically, but socially.
Novik's handling of the subject matter is with a cool authorial voice, almost clinical, a s More...
Almost tragic in her obsession with her parent's legendary love-affair, the protagonist, Pegge Donne, explores the depths of passion, betrayal, sexuality and her own attempt to navigate a confusing and perilous era in England, not only politically, but socially.
Novik's handling of the subject matter is with a cool authorial voice, almost clinical, a s More...
0 comments
like
(3 people liked it)
Mar 13, 2008
Allan
rated it:
Awesome. If you love historical fiction--or just love a good read--this is for you.
0 comments
like
(8 people liked it)
Feb 14, 2010
Lady Ethereal Butterfly
rated it:
Conceit by Mary Novik was an absorbing novel, set in 17th Century England, about Pegge Donne, the daughter of poet John Donne. I was immediately drawn into the story by the use of exciting, captivating plot twists. The story jumped back and forth between different characters and their lives, which kept me involved. The writing itself was very beautiful, almost poetic, and had a pleasing fluidity. Conceit had a lingering sensuality that stayed with me page after page. I was impressed by the fluid
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Aug 01, 2011
Alan
rated it:
Mary Novik breathes new life into the dust that lies beneath "Old St. Paul's".
Like Izaak Walton and Dr. Samuel Johnson before her, she explores the life - and death - of John Donne, that curious clergyman whose effigy still stands wrapped in his shroud, even though the church that once contained it was long ago made ashes.
Her book joins the ranks of those select few authors - Peter Ackroyd, for one - whose books convey an abiding love of London, and what lies
Like Izaak Walton and Dr. Samuel Johnson before her, she explores the life - and death - of John Donne, that curious clergyman whose effigy still stands wrapped in his shroud, even though the church that once contained it was long ago made ashes.
Her book joins the ranks of those select few authors - Peter Ackroyd, for one - whose books convey an abiding love of London, and what lies
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jan 13, 2012
Oleksandra
rated it: 
Bought this at an airport on my way to France but only read a few pages before I got back home. Picked it up again shortly thereafter and finished it with no particular enthusiasm.
As soon as one character or another began to pull me into the story the author abruptly changed directions or focus making it difficult to truly immerse myself in the book. Being a fan of historical fiction I did not find that this book painted a believable enough picture of everyday life in 17th century L More...
As soon as one character or another began to pull me into the story the author abruptly changed directions or focus making it difficult to truly immerse myself in the book. Being a fan of historical fiction I did not find that this book painted a believable enough picture of everyday life in 17th century L More...
Nov 22, 2008
Diane
rated it:
Wow! The author knows a LOT about John Donne. Did she do all that research for this book or make use of leftover musings whilst doing academic research on the man and his writing? By all standards he was a very passionate but divided person and even more so when viewed through 21st century eyes. The author uses some beautiful imagery but the plot is rather meandering and the reader is left wondering just what she was trying to say.
Oct 13, 2008
Julia
rated it:
This book had potential to be good...early 17th century England, the story of a young girl who is the daughter of the Dean of the big church who dies and she feels the need to keep his poetry alive yada yada yada. Didn't always know what was going on.
As for reading in bed, I don't do much of because I can't get comfortable. I usually read at night at one end of the sofa in the family room under a pole lamp. Then I go to bed. I also read alot at the gym on the stationary bike. I fi More...
As for reading in bed, I don't do much of because I can't get comfortable. I usually read at night at one end of the sofa in the family room under a pole lamp. Then I go to bed. I also read alot at the gym on the stationary bike. I fi More...
Jul 04, 2010
I didn't really like this book; too confusing, muddled, and I didn't think it was very well thought-out. It seemed to move incredibly slowly at one place and at the speed of light another.
Feb 05, 2009
I know Mary from the UBC Booming Ground program. Conceit was long-listed for the Giller Prize. Congrats Mary!
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 24, 2011
Nafiza
rated it:
There is a certain eternalness about the characters who are carved so sharply, so beautifully from the words that flow together as poetry. This was a beautiful book - it is a classic. And I am entirely enamored by the world created by Novik. The story of Pegge, who might have been Cinderella in some other story, who dreams and wants as feverishly as her genius father. Her genius has no audience, and her desires are largely unspoken. However, at the end of it all, she finds fulfillment. And love.
More...
0 comments
like
(4 people liked it)
Aug 19, 2011
K.P.
rated it:
This is a captivating read. The author's historical research coupled with her amazing imagination made this reading experience a most special one.
Aug 09, 2009
Cynthia
rated it:
Loved this book. The main characters are so eccentric and passionate. The historical context is really informative and so well written. I loved how the author develops the intricacies of the relationship between John and his daughter Pegge, and how their relationship impacts on her relationship with her husband and life long love. The prose is wonderful - I had a hard time putting it down. Happy to read yet another smart, well writen book by a Canadian author.
2 comments
like
(7 people liked it)
Apr 27, 2011
Miriam
rated it: 
I tried, I really did. But at 200 pages I gave up the ghost. I'm not willing to blame this on the book - I love Donne's poetry but had little interest in reading about his romance with Anne. I didn't mind Pegge and was intrigued by her story enough to persist, but that's interrupted in the middle by the Romance between John and Anne. I ditched at page 200.
I think that in a different head space this book could be real fun.
I think that in a different head space this book could be real fun.
Aug 04, 2011
I'd like to let everyone know that a discussion about Conceit is taking place in the Book Haven group during the month of August 2011. Please drop by to join the conversation at: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5977...
If you can't make it during August, I invite you to drop in later to read the thread and see what people were talking about.
Cheers,
Mary Novik
If you can't make it during August, I invite you to drop in later to read the thread and see what people were talking about.
Cheers,
Mary Novik
Aug 31, 2011
Anne
rated it:
The detail and lovely writing in this book are amazing. I am going to read John Donne's writings now that Mary Novik has intrigued me so much. And Izak Walton's too now. It was intense and I read it over my 2 wks camping at the lake - a fabulous place to read this senuous book!
