From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

The House in Paris

Elizabeth Bowen

Start date: September 1, 2023

Finish date: October 1, 2023

Discussion: Classics Corner

Discussion leader: Maya Fleischmann

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Classics Corner

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What Members Thought

May 14, 2012 Ruth rated it it was ok

This may be my last Elizabeth Bowen. I read her Death of the Heart, some weeks ago. Had high hopes that this would be better. Her writing is lovely. Most of the time. Other times it seems straining too hard to be lovely. Many times I had to backtrack and reread in order to make a sentence scan into sense. Way too much mulling and discussing of the unmullable and undiscussable. Some things cannot be put into words, are best left for us to interpret through images and actions.

The little boy (whose ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

Jan 13, 2017 Laura rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, french-literature, classics, read-2017, fiction-20th-century, irish-literature, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you

From BBC Radio 4 Extra:
From her deathbed, the sinister Madame Fisher weaves the lives of young Henrietta and Leopold as she manipulated others before them.

But who is Karen, the mother who gave Leopold away? Will Madame Fisher reveal her secrets of love, scandal and death?

Episode 2 of 3
Apart for five years, Karen agrees to an illicit meeting with Max that is set to spark fatal consequences.

Episode 3 of 3
Fading fast, is scheming Mme Fisher sowing the seeds for the ultimate destruction of her hous ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Oct 05, 2009 Jayme Pendergraft rated it liked it

Shelves: 2009

I did not know what I was getting into with this book and I was unsure about my star rating for this one. It took me a very long time to adjust to the writing style, and while that set the tone for the novel, I think it took away from the book overall for me.

Eleven year old Henrietta is staying with friends of her grandmother's while on her way to stay with her grandmother. At this house is also another child, Leopold. He is there to meet his mother for the first time. The two strike up a conver ...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Jane rated it liked it

I really loved the first and last sections of this book. The middle was not so satisfying.

The stream of consciousness sections were nowhere near so brilliantly done as V. Woolf's, who is supposed to be a contemporary and influence on Bowen. Still, there were passages about childhood and a woman's life at that time (pre-World War II) that were just amazing, passages I'll copy and reread.

Here's one: A car pulled up at the kerb and a couple in evening dress went eagerly in at a gate: you could se ...more

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