The Grown-Ups

by Victoria Glendinning

The friends, wives, and lovers of a brilliant, charismatic, and relentlessly egotistic writer reexamine their slavish relationships to him after he dies suddenly at a Buckingham Palace dinner party

Genres: Fiction, Novels

243 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

British biographer, critic, broadcaster and novelist. She is President of English PEN, a winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, was awarded a CBE in 1998 and is Vice-president of the Royal Society of Literature.

Glendinning read modern languages at Oxford and worked as a teacher and social worker before becoming an editorial assistant for the Times Literary Supplement in 1974.

She has been married three times, the second to Irish writer, lawyer and editor Terence de Vere White, who died of Parkinson's disease in 1994.

Reviews

[JanGlen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very British book about four women obsessed by one man - Leo Ulm. It is an easy and entertaining read, full of witty insights and sometimes painfully recognisable incidents. It is only after something happens to Leo that the women finally see him for what he is - a self obsessed, obnoxious womaniser - and are able to sort out their own lives. It is not a great book, but I found it a thoroughly enjoyable one.

[Susie Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhere between 2 and 3 but I’m feeling generous. There were some descriptions of characters that I REALLY liked, like an unusual amount of very neat phrasing to describe someone. I also felt that I’ve seen the influence of this author in some more current British authors. I didn’t find the book *riveting*, but I looked forward to sitting down and reading it and have wondered a few times since finishing what the characters are up to. And I think that counts for something!

[Moirad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the story of one self-centred man with a high opinion of his worth, desirability, and importance and the women whose lives touch his - his wife, daughter-in-law, and their friend, his ex-wife, and a French philosopher. All takes place in well-heeled circles in the Thatcher 1980s.

[Jayne Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those little-known books I took a chance on, and found quite good. The author has a good eye for detail, and creates fascinating characters. I was particularly impressed with the Bollard family and their fantastically despicable children. I enjoyed the sequence of events at the conference in America, filled with wittily-observed minor players. The author really got into her stride towards the end, creating a hilarious and yet totally believable trip to one of the Queen's garden parties, worth an extra star in the ratings all on its own. Things I didn't think worked were....well, the plot, which was nebulous at best. Also I found it hard to get my head round the inter-generational marriages. Overall, one to enjoy for the quality of the writing and the little details. I would certainly read more by this author.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Goodreads friend Mary gave me this for my birthday and I took it along on vacation. It was darker than I first suspected, an interesting psychological and social study of characters in England. I enjoyed the different narrative viewpoints - it's rather delicious to have access to interior thoughts of these characters.

[Amyem]

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1...

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

A good book to skip. Please read my full review here: http://sonotarunner.blogspot.com/2012...