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Family Money
A tough independent woman, Fanny Pye learns to adjust to the crippling events brought on by old age and the selfish interests of her adult children
250 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
1 person is currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Nina Bawden
64 books94 followersNina Bawden was a popular British novelist and children's writer. Her mother was a teacher and her father a marine.
When World War II broke out she spent the school holidays at a farm in Shropshire along with her mother and her brothers, but lived in Aberdare, Wales, during term time.
Bawden attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she gained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Her novels include Carrie's War, Peppermint Pig, and The Witch's Daughter.
A number of her works have been dramatised by BBC Children's television, and many have been translated into various languages. In 2002 she was badly injured in the Potters Bar rail crash, and her husband Austen Kark was killed.
Bawden passed away at her home in London on 22 August 2012.
When World War II broke out she spent the school holidays at a farm in Shropshire along with her mother and her brothers, but lived in Aberdare, Wales, during term time.
Bawden attended Somerville College, Oxford, where she gained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Her novels include Carrie's War, Peppermint Pig, and The Witch's Daughter.
A number of her works have been dramatised by BBC Children's television, and many have been translated into various languages. In 2002 she was badly injured in the Potters Bar rail crash, and her husband Austen Kark was killed.
Bawden passed away at her home in London on 22 August 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 17, 2015
This novel is set in London in the late 1980s, possibly 1990, and revolves around the life of a well-to-do widow who is getting on in years but is self sufficient both physically and emotionally. On her way home from a solitary outing she becomes a witness to a violent assault and is herself assaulted as a result. When she recovers she has no recollection of the incident something which serves as a reminder of oncoming old age and increasing frailty. The aftermath of the assault brings on subtle and not so subtle changes in the way people around her, and more specifically her children, perceive and treat her. And human nature being what it is, these changes are not only motivated by affection and the urge to protect or the arrogance of youth even but also by financial considerations to which the characters themselves will only admit with difficulty. Mrs Pye recognizes these changes and takes on the challenge of maintaining her independence and holding on to her dignity even as she has to deal with her own emotional trauma and strive in isolation to regain her ability to deal with life on her own terms.
I was very interested to read about the way the writer deals with themes such as growing old, the way the younger view the old, the role of money in family relationships and people’s motivations and I would have considered the novel perfect if there hadn’t been a whiff of preaching about it. Nina Bawden must have been a person of strong views in political and social issues and this comes through in her writing in a way that had me rebelling even as I agreed with her. Something in me wants me to be allowed to draw my own conclusions rather than be manipulated into the conclusions I ought to arrive at, however subtly this is done.
I was very interested to read about the way the writer deals with themes such as growing old, the way the younger view the old, the role of money in family relationships and people’s motivations and I would have considered the novel perfect if there hadn’t been a whiff of preaching about it. Nina Bawden must have been a person of strong views in political and social issues and this comes through in her writing in a way that had me rebelling even as I agreed with her. Something in me wants me to be allowed to draw my own conclusions rather than be manipulated into the conclusions I ought to arrive at, however subtly this is done.
July 22, 2016
A London property bubble, impoverished hospitals, worries about care in old age – this novel, published in 1991, feels oddly topical.
Family Money is the story of recently widowed Fanny (her name perhaps the one thing that dates it). Returning from an evening out, she becomes involved in a violent incident. She is injured and has little memory of what has occurred.
Her children, solicitous of her (or perhaps her half-a-million-pound house) try to make plans for her. Fanny, however, has ideas of her own, as well as a mutual fascination with an enigmatic young man living on the canal at the end of her garden which only grows as her memory returns.
Bawden takes an unflinching look at her characters with their assumptions and their self-justification. They are privileged but they are also needy. She is not afraid to mock them but there is compassion too, and a warm, understated humour.
Fanny negotiates her physical weakness and her erratic memory with dignity and irony. She looks back with a clear eye at the life she has led and the trials she may face.
This kind of book has rather fallen out of fashion. Superficially it is a domestic tale of the moneyed upper-middle classes. It would be easy to ask, who cares? But this apparently simple story, lightly told, is beautifully structured.
It asks questions about age, class, morality, mortality, friendship and love, all in less than 300 pages of crisp, cool prose. And there’s a nice little twist at the end.
Family Money is the story of recently widowed Fanny (her name perhaps the one thing that dates it). Returning from an evening out, she becomes involved in a violent incident. She is injured and has little memory of what has occurred.
Her children, solicitous of her (or perhaps her half-a-million-pound house) try to make plans for her. Fanny, however, has ideas of her own, as well as a mutual fascination with an enigmatic young man living on the canal at the end of her garden which only grows as her memory returns.
Bawden takes an unflinching look at her characters with their assumptions and their self-justification. They are privileged but they are also needy. She is not afraid to mock them but there is compassion too, and a warm, understated humour.
Fanny negotiates her physical weakness and her erratic memory with dignity and irony. She looks back with a clear eye at the life she has led and the trials she may face.
This kind of book has rather fallen out of fashion. Superficially it is a domestic tale of the moneyed upper-middle classes. It would be easy to ask, who cares? But this apparently simple story, lightly told, is beautifully structured.
It asks questions about age, class, morality, mortality, friendship and love, all in less than 300 pages of crisp, cool prose. And there’s a nice little twist at the end.
September 18, 2014
The third of the Viragos I read in a row over the past two weeks, this one didn't disappoint either. Since life got in the way, I was forced to put down the book multiple times towards the end, which may have affected it slightly for me. In between reading, I turned to my partner and asked incredulously, "How does this woman know so well the way people think, and how is she able to write it down with all the nuances?". I recognized a few of my more unworthy thoughts passing through Fanny's mind. I will be looking for more Nina Bawden and Molly Keane (the first in the trio of enjoyable Viragos).
November 11, 2017
Family Money; Nina Bawden’s 1991 novel is the kind of novel that I think Nina Bawden does particularly well. A novel of family, concerning money, old age and the battle for independence, it’s one which feels very topical still.
London, and a huge spike in property prices means that houses bought many years earlier are now worth a small fortune. As the novel opens, a group of friends gathered together for dinner, discuss the possibilities that the properties owned now by their respective mothers could afford them.
Bawden’s characters do tend to come from the upper middle classes – though like Bawden herself, many of them also have a social conscience or left-wing sensibilities. One of the peripheral characters in Family Money is a labour peer – while another is a working class, daily housekeeper who has always dreamt of owning her own home, coveting the security it would give her, for the first time in her life.
Fanny Pye, Harry and Isobel’s mother – owns a large house backing on to the canal. Bought years earlier when Fanny and her husband returned from ambassadorial duties abroad – it is now a potential goldmine. Now, her husband is dead, and Fanny is living alone quite ably. Still active she thinks nothing of dining alone at her favourite restaurant, where she is well known, and walking home through the dark precinct lost in her own thoughts and memories.
“Lonely suddenly, she turned from the window and marched sturdily through the rest of the precinct towards the road at the end; not a main road, but a wide one that was always lined with parked cars and busy at night, especially around the time the pubs closed. They must be closing now, Fanny thought, hearing car doors slam, voices shouting. She had not thought it was quite so late.”
When Fanny intervenes in a street brawl late one night she is hospitalised and briefly struggles to remember the most basic things. Fanny is horrified when she forgets her daughter-in-law – and feeling suddenly horribly vulnerable she does her best to cover up her memory lapses in front of her family.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...
London, and a huge spike in property prices means that houses bought many years earlier are now worth a small fortune. As the novel opens, a group of friends gathered together for dinner, discuss the possibilities that the properties owned now by their respective mothers could afford them.
Bawden’s characters do tend to come from the upper middle classes – though like Bawden herself, many of them also have a social conscience or left-wing sensibilities. One of the peripheral characters in Family Money is a labour peer – while another is a working class, daily housekeeper who has always dreamt of owning her own home, coveting the security it would give her, for the first time in her life.
Fanny Pye, Harry and Isobel’s mother – owns a large house backing on to the canal. Bought years earlier when Fanny and her husband returned from ambassadorial duties abroad – it is now a potential goldmine. Now, her husband is dead, and Fanny is living alone quite ably. Still active she thinks nothing of dining alone at her favourite restaurant, where she is well known, and walking home through the dark precinct lost in her own thoughts and memories.
“Lonely suddenly, she turned from the window and marched sturdily through the rest of the precinct towards the road at the end; not a main road, but a wide one that was always lined with parked cars and busy at night, especially around the time the pubs closed. They must be closing now, Fanny thought, hearing car doors slam, voices shouting. She had not thought it was quite so late.”
When Fanny intervenes in a street brawl late one night she is hospitalised and briefly struggles to remember the most basic things. Fanny is horrified when she forgets her daughter-in-law – and feeling suddenly horribly vulnerable she does her best to cover up her memory lapses in front of her family.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...
May 1, 2019
I am really not too sure about this. I think I will need the others in my book group to convince me it was better than I thought. Not that there weren't good moments and observations. The main plot was interesting but the bits surrounding it sometimes seemed unnecessary. I liked the central character, Fanny, most of the time, and I was convinced in her actions which could have seemed ill-advised, but she was flawed all the same, as we all are.
September 3, 2015
I loved Carries War which I read when I was young.
I thought I would try one of her adult novels.
This is all about Fanny and what happens to her as she gets older living alone in a great big house.
The story does ramble somewhat but does have a satisfactory ending.
I thought I would try one of her adult novels.
This is all about Fanny and what happens to her as she gets older living alone in a great big house.
The story does ramble somewhat but does have a satisfactory ending.
May 22, 2025
This was a re read for me as I try to reduce my book collection. Last read decades ago. Really enjoyed. Loved the main character and a great story of negotiating family relationships as we all get older.
December 28, 2020
To the best of my knowledge/failing memory, I have not read a Nina Bawden since I was a child. On my kid's bookshelf at home, the only volume I have of Bawden's is The Witch's Daughter. I don't remember reading Carrie's War and I must have liked The Witch's Daughter or I don't think I would have kept it.
This slim volume (at 250pp) is the ideal post-Xmas read. Nothing too demanding or heavy but sufficiently interesting and thought-provoking. I knocked it off in 24 hours. Mostly because I'm under doctor's orders to rest a bit (I have an aggravated shoulder injury) and so what can one do but read?
I received no less than 12 Viragoes for Xmas. What a feast! Six from my Virago Secret Santa and six from dearest Caspar. Best son ever. One does wonder if Caspar was trying to tell me something with the titles he picked this year. They are as follows: Family Money, Daughters of the House, Homeland, During Mother's Absence and A Great Love ;) But I think it is just happenstance. I am delighted with his choices - only one duplicate I think in Daughters of the House. Anyway, back to Family Money.
Bawden wrote this in 1991 when I was pregnant with my first child. It is set in London. Property is the currency of the day and as you can imagine, those with property or the prospect of inheriting property in London would be rubbing their hands together with glee.
Our heroine is Fanny. Fanny has been recently widowed. Her husband was in the diplomatic service so most of their married life has been spent overseas, entertaining and living in quarters with staff.
She is now living in their London pied-a-terre - a somewhat run-down Georgian terrace which, at five storeys, could be considered rather excess to her needs and not friendly to a person who might need a wheelchair or assisted living in the future.
Fanny is the younger sister to Delia. Fanny was pulled out of school early and sent to secretarial college once it was established she had no great intellect fit for further education.
But Fanny is feisty and has a strong desire to do what is "right". She goes to the aid of a young man who is being bashed in the street late at night on her way home alone from a restaurant and, for her trouble, is knocked unconscious and loses her memory of the inciting incident.
I won't tell you anymore because that would ruin the story. It is, I guess a bit of a thriller, but also a bit more than that. Maybe it's just my age but, as I head towards pensioner-land, I am acutely aware of how, like dominoes, just one accident or slip can lead to a certain vulnerability both physically and mentally. It is so annoying not being as strong or self-sufficient as I used to be. And pain makes you cranky and miserable. As my father says, "Old age ain't for sissies!"
I was particularly fascinated by Bawden's description of Fanny's increasing anxiety. Her description is spot-on; the crippling effect of not being able to go anywhere or do anything because your legs just will not take you.
Lest you think this all doom and gloom, I want to assure you that Fanny receives help from some unexpected quarters, including her own gumption and survival instinct.
I was saddened to read that Bawden and her husband were in a very serious train accident in 2002 - the Potters Bar rail crash. Her husband Austen Kark was killed. Bawden suffered a broken ankle, arm, leg, shoulder, collarbone and ribs. Can you imagine? Her testimony was instrumental in ensuring justice for the victims of the crash.
I suspect much of the material in this novel was taken from real life as Bawden's husband was a managing director at the BBC (Fanny's son works for the BBC) and Fanny lives on a canal as did Bawden and her husband at Islington.
I commend Family Money to you.
This slim volume (at 250pp) is the ideal post-Xmas read. Nothing too demanding or heavy but sufficiently interesting and thought-provoking. I knocked it off in 24 hours. Mostly because I'm under doctor's orders to rest a bit (I have an aggravated shoulder injury) and so what can one do but read?
I received no less than 12 Viragoes for Xmas. What a feast! Six from my Virago Secret Santa and six from dearest Caspar. Best son ever. One does wonder if Caspar was trying to tell me something with the titles he picked this year. They are as follows: Family Money, Daughters of the House, Homeland, During Mother's Absence and A Great Love ;) But I think it is just happenstance. I am delighted with his choices - only one duplicate I think in Daughters of the House. Anyway, back to Family Money.
Bawden wrote this in 1991 when I was pregnant with my first child. It is set in London. Property is the currency of the day and as you can imagine, those with property or the prospect of inheriting property in London would be rubbing their hands together with glee.
Our heroine is Fanny. Fanny has been recently widowed. Her husband was in the diplomatic service so most of their married life has been spent overseas, entertaining and living in quarters with staff.
She is now living in their London pied-a-terre - a somewhat run-down Georgian terrace which, at five storeys, could be considered rather excess to her needs and not friendly to a person who might need a wheelchair or assisted living in the future.
Fanny is the younger sister to Delia. Fanny was pulled out of school early and sent to secretarial college once it was established she had no great intellect fit for further education.
But Fanny is feisty and has a strong desire to do what is "right". She goes to the aid of a young man who is being bashed in the street late at night on her way home alone from a restaurant and, for her trouble, is knocked unconscious and loses her memory of the inciting incident.
I won't tell you anymore because that would ruin the story. It is, I guess a bit of a thriller, but also a bit more than that. Maybe it's just my age but, as I head towards pensioner-land, I am acutely aware of how, like dominoes, just one accident or slip can lead to a certain vulnerability both physically and mentally. It is so annoying not being as strong or self-sufficient as I used to be. And pain makes you cranky and miserable. As my father says, "Old age ain't for sissies!"
I was particularly fascinated by Bawden's description of Fanny's increasing anxiety. Her description is spot-on; the crippling effect of not being able to go anywhere or do anything because your legs just will not take you.
Lest you think this all doom and gloom, I want to assure you that Fanny receives help from some unexpected quarters, including her own gumption and survival instinct.
I was saddened to read that Bawden and her husband were in a very serious train accident in 2002 - the Potters Bar rail crash. Her husband Austen Kark was killed. Bawden suffered a broken ankle, arm, leg, shoulder, collarbone and ribs. Can you imagine? Her testimony was instrumental in ensuring justice for the victims of the crash.
I suspect much of the material in this novel was taken from real life as Bawden's husband was a managing director at the BBC (Fanny's son works for the BBC) and Fanny lives on a canal as did Bawden and her husband at Islington.
I commend Family Money to you.
December 7, 2010
I've got a soft spot for the author of Carrie's War and still find it a bit odd (no idea why) that Nina Bawden writes adult fiction too. This story is all about Fanny getting older and meeting with disasters and how her two children, grown up with families of their own, see her and cope with her.
The book rather rambles from one storyline to another and some things never feel quite concluded but I don't think that that's a bad thing. It concentrates less on inheritance matters than the title and the beginning of the book would have you believe though I was amused by the bits about house prices as the book was written during the boom part of the UK's last boom-and-bust housing cycle and people were saying the exact things you hear today.
On the whole I found the story enjoyable and quite touching. Must reread Carrie's War sometime and see if it's as good as it was when I was a kid.
April 19, 2016
I liked the main character; I found her sympathetic and believable. The situation was one many families must go through. It was an easy read and at times quite tense in a mild sort of way.
I found the ending was rather up in the air but I guess you could choose your own ending. I personally prefer a neater more conclusive ending but I made mine a happy ending!!
I liked the way the author created realistic characters and would be happy to read other books by her.
I found the ending was rather up in the air but I guess you could choose your own ending. I personally prefer a neater more conclusive ending but I made mine a happy ending!!
I liked the way the author created realistic characters and would be happy to read other books by her.
December 16, 2017
Such a pleasure to read a book that carefully dissects the motives and emotions behind the words to reveal the personal subtext with which each character is busy grappling. I loved the inner wrestling between greed and generosity, social justice and inheritance questions, the waves of feelings that overcome the main protagonist when she feels she's losing her grip, her memory, her independence, her peace of mind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 18, 2019
Elegantly written novel about relationships to each other, and to money. Nina Bawden has an amazing gift of being able to read people's most unworthy thoughts and describe all the ambiguous emotions which swirl around in close relationships. It's also about what makes us feel secure, and how we cope when that feeling is destroyed. Very open-ended - we will never know "what happened next".
May 16, 2018
Humorous novel of aging Englishwoman who gets her head bonked and begins acting dotty. Her two children are anxious about the potential money from her house; she hooks up with an old friend. Enjoyable, not taxing.
September 8, 2020
A rather tedious read, if it hadn't been for that one unexpected last sentence.
June 28, 2021
Very interesting, enjoyed it. Not the ending I expected.
December 20, 2022
Although there were parts of this I enjoyed I couldn't warm to the characters and the large swathes of discussion about investment, property and inheritance tax were boring.
October 22, 2024
I remember now why I loved reading Nina Bawden as a child. Full of suspense and humanity.
February 16, 2009
Great book. Not the first Bawden book I read, however. That one was either "Afternoon of a Good Woman" or "Familiar Passions." After the first one, I took out all the other Bawden novels my library had, and read them (10? 11?) in a week.
June 29, 2015
Agree that the book didn't live up to its cover blurb. Still an interesting depiction of old age, lonlinesss and the potential selfishness of the middle class. Not sure what to make of the ending, is she going to Islamabad to see her ex lover and then stay there for ever?
January 21, 2010
An absorbing story about greed in family relationships with some great interactions between a pretty savvy mom and her somewhat venal children.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews