An Autumn Sowing

by Edward Frederic Benson, John Julius Norwich (Introduction)

Thomas Keeling, pillar of Bracebridge society, dwells at 'The Cedars', a spacious residence furnished with such treasures as a small stuffed crocodile rampant. But Keeling stalks unmoved through this opulence, cherishing instead a secret retreat, his book-lined study - and soon a secret passion, when his young secretary Norah surprises his with a solitary glimpse of love. Buried feeling clash with the pompous surface of Benson's uniquely comic world in this poignant classic of English humour.

Genres: Fiction, Classics

339 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1917

About the author

Edward Frederic "E. F." Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer.

E. F. Benson was the younger brother of A.C. Benson, who wrote the words to "Land of Hope and Glory", Robert Hugh Benson, author of several novels and Roman Catholic apologetic works, and Margaret Benson, an author and amateur Egyptologist.

Benson died during 1940 of throat cancer at the University College Hospital, London. He is buried in the cemetery at Rye, East Sussex.

Last paragraph from Wikipedia

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

E.F. Benson is best known, I suppose, for the Mapp and Lucia series. I have never read them but understand that they are about impossibly upper class people and contain humorous incidents in their lives). For E.F. Benson fans, this is a real departure from that vein.

There are humorous touches here and hilarious depictions of the doings of a very affected English clergyman. However, the story is about a highly successful man who cannot relate to his wife very well. He dwells on a plane where she cannot enter as he is a thinker and a reader, and she is not. She is preoccupied with silly things and is vapid and pretentious. Late in life he meets his soulmate. I found it suspenseful and hard to put down. Not at all a melodrama or a sappy romance, it contains an unpredictable ending.

[Louise Culmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Keeling is a succesful businessman whose passion is his library of valuable and beautiful old books. None of his family share his enthusiasm, only one of his employees, Charles Probert, shares his love of books. Then Charles’s sister Norah comes to work for Thomas as his secretary, and his world begins to change.
I found this a rathe depressing story. I think I was meant to sympathise with Thomas for having such a stupid wife with whom he had nothing in common, but then why did he marry her in the first place? I was supposed to despise Mrs Keeling’s vulgar taste in decour, but I actually thought the things she had sounded quite fun. And Norah was too good to be true, she rather got on my nerves ‘pictures of perfection make me sick and wicked’ as Jane Austen once wrote. Thomas has three children, but his two sons disappear from the narrative early on, I anm not sure what they are for really, and his daughter, like her mother, is mostly presented as absurd though with a bit more sympathy.
The book was published in 1917 but I assume is meant to be set pre war, since the war is not mentioned at all.

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book puts an intriguing twist on the old story of a middle aged man falling for his secretary. The main character, Mr. Keeling (Christian name Thomas, although it is almost never used) is sympathetically and fully delineated, a self-made man who began his business life as a fishmonger and is now rich and prominent in the community. With more money than he needs, he struggles against the class system in small town England, painfully realizing that he can never be accepted as a "gentleman". His wife, in blissful ignorance of her own stupidity and bad taste, really thinks she has "arrived" in the social hierarchy and is the most embarrassing snob imaginable. Enter the Properts, a brother and sister with beauty, intelligence, education, sensitivity. The resulting story kept me guessing until the very end.

Benson writes beautifully--wonderful metaphors give clear descriptions of the hero's emotions. (Other characters are primarily supporting actors.)

"In the leafless elms above there sang in this wintry and snow-bound night the shy strong bird of romance: never in his life had he heard such rapture of melody."

A great read.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was lovely, and so sad but with wonderfully funny moments. The appalling vicar, a figure of fun till a twist at the end which rounds the plot off, was perhaps my favourite character, but the dreadful stupid wife runs him close. Mr Keeling, the hero, is a joy, with a now unfashionable strength of character which I loved. It's an old fashioned book, with an old fashioned moral, written in elegant but somewhat intricate style - don't rush it, but do read it.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this novel but did not love it. There were scenes in it that were extremely well-done but I did find myself skimming bits here and there and sort of wanting to "get on with it."
However, this is a great book to discuss after the fact. My mom and I had a lovely chat about it and the more we talked about it, the more I liked it.
So there.

[Margaret Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very difficult book to review. The closest I can come to summing things up is that it feels like existential stoicism. Life disappoints and the most the characters can do is hold on to the brief glimmers of joy life has given them -- and then go on putting one foot ahead of the other and live out their lives with the meaning of (and no further hope for) love.

[Alan]

Couldn't finish this bec of the edition I have, with small print and double columns.

[Purdeyblackcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable book. Not quite the social comedy I was expecting, instead it's a rather sad story with some great comic observation. Probably the most enjoyable book of Benson's I've read outside the Mapp and Lucia series.

[Cazz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the dynamics between the female characters, but generally left me feeling sad

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story. I found this book in an antique store and took a chance. Love when that works out. Read more by this author.