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The 27th Kingdom
The Roman Catholic Russian ancestors of Aunt Irene, the central character in Alice Thomas Ellis's new novel, were persecuted and forced to flee to Ukraine, Lithuania, Austria "or as the story-tellers would have it, across 27 lands and 30 countries until they came to the 27th Kingdom."
For the good, kind and infinitely friendly Aunt Irene, her handsome but wicked nephew, Kyril, and Focus, a cat of alarming intelligence, this is "Dancing Master House," a minute dwelling in the Chelsea of the 1950's, with its motley assortment of antique dealers, criminals and "chars." Two of these gossiping women, Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Mason, one "dead common" with criminal connections, the other an impoverished lady of the upper classes, clean for and take care of the needs of Aunt Irene and Kyril.
From Wales, Irene's sister, the Mother Superior, sends Valentine, a beautiful young West Indian postulant, ostensibly "to test her vocation" but really because of the embarrassing discovery that Valentine has miraculous powers.
The adventures of this strangely disparate group of people, stalked by an official trying to collect Aunt Irene's unpaid income tax, provide the basis for a story about angels and demons in a style which epitomizes the refreshing eccentricities of English humor.
For the good, kind and infinitely friendly Aunt Irene, her handsome but wicked nephew, Kyril, and Focus, a cat of alarming intelligence, this is "Dancing Master House," a minute dwelling in the Chelsea of the 1950's, with its motley assortment of antique dealers, criminals and "chars." Two of these gossiping women, Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Mason, one "dead common" with criminal connections, the other an impoverished lady of the upper classes, clean for and take care of the needs of Aunt Irene and Kyril.
From Wales, Irene's sister, the Mother Superior, sends Valentine, a beautiful young West Indian postulant, ostensibly "to test her vocation" but really because of the embarrassing discovery that Valentine has miraculous powers.
The adventures of this strangely disparate group of people, stalked by an official trying to collect Aunt Irene's unpaid income tax, provide the basis for a story about angels and demons in a style which epitomizes the refreshing eccentricities of English humor.
159 pages, Hardcover
First published October 4, 1982
4 people are currently reading
448 people want to read
About the author
Alice Thomas Ellis
47 books84 followersAlice Thomas Ellis was short-listed for the Booker prize for The 27th Kingdom. She is the author of A Welsh Childhood (autobiography), Fairy Tale and several other novels including The Summerhouse Trilogy, made into a movie starring Jeanne Moreau and Joan Plowright.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
June 29, 2019
My 2nd foray into AT Ellis's world. Not wholly satisfying. . .
Valentine is my favorite - unflappable and sure in her belief, an infinity symbol of philosophical circularity that assures salvation (and makes a pretty cute bracelet if so bended metallically around a wrist).
The other characters wear their flaws and positive traits jauntily, hats, gloves and jackets to match their respective destinations - some you get right away (evil is evil, after all!) and some grow into their role as you read on.
BUT, and this is the BIG BUTT here. . . .I think I am out of sync with Ms Ellis's humor as she was writing from the context of another time, and in my case from another country. Usually I get that, tho. I'm hoping it is just this book,because I have a few more to read of hers before I will release myself from this quest.
Next!
Valentine is my favorite - unflappable and sure in her belief, an infinity symbol of philosophical circularity that assures salvation (and makes a pretty cute bracelet if so bended metallically around a wrist).
The other characters wear their flaws and positive traits jauntily, hats, gloves and jackets to match their respective destinations - some you get right away (evil is evil, after all!) and some grow into their role as you read on.
BUT, and this is the BIG BUTT here. . . .I think I am out of sync with Ms Ellis's humor as she was writing from the context of another time, and in my case from another country. Usually I get that, tho. I'm hoping it is just this book,because I have a few more to read of hers before I will release myself from this quest.
Next!
April 16, 2017
This book was rather unusual. I certainly enjoyed it but found it a little unsatisfying. We are looking at a snippet of the lives of a group of people which does not really progress much. I found all of the characters unpleasant, they had quite a cruel outlook on life, selfish and verbally unkind to each other. I disliked Kyril from almost the first page as his first action was to kick the cat. Aunt Irene was eccentric to say the least, partly living in the past. The O'Connors were a family of thieves and thugs. Major Mason is an alcoholic and unkind to his wife, she in turn is resentful because she is a cleaner for Irene. Mrs Mason only has to do this menial job because of her husband's drinking. Poor little Mr. Sirocco, lodger of the house is summarily ejected from his room and moved into an awful room in the house next door. There is no notice or consultation given by Irene or indeed any protest from him. Into this mix of very strange people Valentine arrives, a postulant at the convent where Irene's sister is superior. Valentine is quiet, calm, distant and there is something strangely different about her! There is wicked humour, the malicious actions of the characters made me think 'you can't say that' and 'how can you do that' so quite entertaining in that respect.
I just wish that there had been a little more of a climax to the story, I was left asking is that it then.
I just wish that there had been a little more of a climax to the story, I was left asking is that it then.
April 28, 2022
3.5 stars. An original, sometimes humorous, character based short novel set in the 1950s in Chelsea, West London. It mainly focuses on Aunt Irene, who runs a small boarding house, and her nephew Kyril, who lives in Irene's house. He is in the art business and in his twenties. Mrs Mason is employed by Irene to do some house cleaning. Mrs Mason's husband is an alcoholic and drinks at the local hotel on a full time basis. Mr Sirocco is a boarder in Irene's house, but not expected to stay long. He is one of the 'homeless' people that Irene is continually providing support to. Valentine, a young black woman who is a nun, arrives to stay. Valentine is quiet, calm and distant. She has been sent to live for a short time in Irene's house by Irene's sister, Reverend Mother, to test Valentine's vocation.
An odd, short, sharp novel about a group of characters over a period of a few months.
This book was shortlisted for the 1982 Booker Prize.
An odd, short, sharp novel about a group of characters over a period of a few months.
This book was shortlisted for the 1982 Booker Prize.
August 10, 2022
(3.5 Stars rounded up to 4)
Back in May, I read and thoroughly enjoyed Alice Thomas Ellis’s 1980 novel, The Birds of the Air, a very well-observed tragicomedy featuring a wonderfully dysfunctional family. It was part of a set of four Penguin editions of this author’s early novellas that I’d found in a charity shop, each featuring a charming cover image by the artist Ian Archie Beck.
The 27th Kingdom was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1982, and I do wonder how it would be received by the equivalent panel now. In truth, it’s a rather peculiar book, to the point where my feelings about it oscillated quite markedly throughout. On the upside, there are some wonderfully eccentric characters here – most of them thoroughly unlikeable, which always makes for interesting reading. The setting and premise also promise much in the way of potential drama, although I think Ellis could have gone a little further with her ideas in the end. Most troublesome though is the dialogue, some of which feels clunky and cliched, even considering the period. More on that later as we get into the book…
This story – which takes place in 1954 – revolves around Aunt Irene, a rather eccentric middle-aged émigré who shares a home with and her adult nephew, Kyril. The dwelling in question is Dancing Master House, a small boarding house in London’s Chelsea – an environment that immediately ticks one of my boxes for interesting fiction. Kyril, an art dealer by trade, is a particularly unlikeable character – handsome, sardonic and vindictive, the type who enjoys stirring up trouble just for the thrill of it. Unsurprisingly, his chief target is Mr Sirocco, a timid little man who boards at Irene’s house.
He [Kyril] was fed up with little Mr Sirocco, who had turned out to be resolutely virtuous and very earnest in a dim and blundering fashion, and had quite refused to produce any free samples from the firm of wine shippers where he worked. ‘You must give up taking in deserving cases,’ he said [to Aunt Irene]. ‘They’re boring.’ (p. 13)
Aunt Irene is no paragon of virtue herself, viewing the boarders as an appreciative audience for her artistic talents, ‘raw materials to dispose of and manipulate’ as the fancy takes her. There are hints of dodgy activities too – possible tax evasion and the receipt of black-market goods – things that Irene’s charlady, the sharp-eyed Mrs Mason, has noticed over the years.
Mrs Mason, rolling up the sleeves of her cardigan, thought Aunt Irene looked like one of those backyard hydrangeas. It was significant that she had so many clothes – not all of them pre-war by any means and nothing Utility. Mrs Mason was absolutely convinced that Aunt Irene had traded with Mrs O’Connor in black-market clothing-coupons throughout the Duration. Her face grew lined and set with jealousy and she wished the taxman would come back – she could tell him a few more things. (p. 89)
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2022...
Back in May, I read and thoroughly enjoyed Alice Thomas Ellis’s 1980 novel, The Birds of the Air, a very well-observed tragicomedy featuring a wonderfully dysfunctional family. It was part of a set of four Penguin editions of this author’s early novellas that I’d found in a charity shop, each featuring a charming cover image by the artist Ian Archie Beck.
The 27th Kingdom was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1982, and I do wonder how it would be received by the equivalent panel now. In truth, it’s a rather peculiar book, to the point where my feelings about it oscillated quite markedly throughout. On the upside, there are some wonderfully eccentric characters here – most of them thoroughly unlikeable, which always makes for interesting reading. The setting and premise also promise much in the way of potential drama, although I think Ellis could have gone a little further with her ideas in the end. Most troublesome though is the dialogue, some of which feels clunky and cliched, even considering the period. More on that later as we get into the book…
This story – which takes place in 1954 – revolves around Aunt Irene, a rather eccentric middle-aged émigré who shares a home with and her adult nephew, Kyril. The dwelling in question is Dancing Master House, a small boarding house in London’s Chelsea – an environment that immediately ticks one of my boxes for interesting fiction. Kyril, an art dealer by trade, is a particularly unlikeable character – handsome, sardonic and vindictive, the type who enjoys stirring up trouble just for the thrill of it. Unsurprisingly, his chief target is Mr Sirocco, a timid little man who boards at Irene’s house.
He [Kyril] was fed up with little Mr Sirocco, who had turned out to be resolutely virtuous and very earnest in a dim and blundering fashion, and had quite refused to produce any free samples from the firm of wine shippers where he worked. ‘You must give up taking in deserving cases,’ he said [to Aunt Irene]. ‘They’re boring.’ (p. 13)
Aunt Irene is no paragon of virtue herself, viewing the boarders as an appreciative audience for her artistic talents, ‘raw materials to dispose of and manipulate’ as the fancy takes her. There are hints of dodgy activities too – possible tax evasion and the receipt of black-market goods – things that Irene’s charlady, the sharp-eyed Mrs Mason, has noticed over the years.
Mrs Mason, rolling up the sleeves of her cardigan, thought Aunt Irene looked like one of those backyard hydrangeas. It was significant that she had so many clothes – not all of them pre-war by any means and nothing Utility. Mrs Mason was absolutely convinced that Aunt Irene had traded with Mrs O’Connor in black-market clothing-coupons throughout the Duration. Her face grew lined and set with jealousy and she wished the taxman would come back – she could tell him a few more things. (p. 89)
To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2022...
August 26, 2022
This is a marvelous book, possibly my favorite Alice Thomas Ellis novel so far. Wonderful characters; wonderful story. And I will never forget her aside on how only the creation account in the book of Genesis can adequately explain the invention of mayonnaise, not to mention meringue. Brilliant. Note after reading for the 2nd time: This is as marvelous as I remembered, perhaps more so. What struck me this time was the different ways in which each of the very flawed main characters--the sinners--reacted to Valentine--the saint living among them--according to their peculiar besetting sin. There are layers to this story about which I must think. At this point I have read all of Ellis's novels, and this is still one of my favorites.
January 11, 2026
Three and half stars.
An Admission:
Many of the witty remarks that AT Ellis made in this novel were lost on me. Maybe they reflected the period in which the novel was written.
Story:
It is a novel of character sketches, not a plot driven one. Liked the way AT Ellis portrayed each of the characters with accompanying sarcastic and acerbic remarks. Such remarks evoke humour and from the reader a chuckle or at times even elicits a peal of laughter.
The characters are all interesting - a tax evading lady, a family with the history of thieving and thuggery, a lady who was once rich but now has become a pauper, selfish art dealer, an aspirant nun who works miracles.....
Finally:
Many compare AT Ellis with Muriel Spark. Both were Catholics and were known for witty remarks. But anytime, I would choose Dame Spark.
But then, I have not read any other works of AT Ellis. And my judgment could be wrong.
An Admission:
Many of the witty remarks that AT Ellis made in this novel were lost on me. Maybe they reflected the period in which the novel was written.
Story:
It is a novel of character sketches, not a plot driven one. Liked the way AT Ellis portrayed each of the characters with accompanying sarcastic and acerbic remarks. Such remarks evoke humour and from the reader a chuckle or at times even elicits a peal of laughter.
The characters are all interesting - a tax evading lady, a family with the history of thieving and thuggery, a lady who was once rich but now has become a pauper, selfish art dealer, an aspirant nun who works miracles.....
Finally:
Many compare AT Ellis with Muriel Spark. Both were Catholics and were known for witty remarks. But anytime, I would choose Dame Spark.
But then, I have not read any other works of AT Ellis. And my judgment could be wrong.
July 7, 2010
Brilliant! Although I kept forgetting which character was which, and in Kym's kiwi accent the author's name sounds palyndromic, ala William Carlos Williams. But I think both are forgiveable
April 2, 2013
I'm reading Ellis' novels in order (this is #3) based on rave reviews from the Common Reader back when they were still in business. Her mordant wit is turned toward another set of unsavory characters leavened by a postulate nun and a sprinkling of the supernatural. I'm still amused but not yet raving.
Opening of the book:
The story I shall tell begins like this.
Once upon a time, in the year of Our Lord 1954, a woman known as Aunt Irene, who insisted on being pronounced 'Irina' and spelled as I have spelled her, received a letter. It was headed 'The Feast of of Blessed Julie Billiart'. Enclosed in its folds was a card with a picture on it of a nice old lady in a wimple, beaming.
Aunt Irene found it irritating. She herself possessed a number of icons, but they represented proper saints, correctly dressed with haloes, long-robed mussel-shell-shaped thighs and angular fingers raised in benediction. Moreover her sister had probably despatched this portrait of a Blessed old girl as a reproach, a reminder; for she feared that Aunt Irene was backsliding, and frequently wrote to say so.
Opening of the book:
The story I shall tell begins like this.
Once upon a time, in the year of Our Lord 1954, a woman known as Aunt Irene, who insisted on being pronounced 'Irina' and spelled as I have spelled her, received a letter. It was headed 'The Feast of of Blessed Julie Billiart'. Enclosed in its folds was a card with a picture on it of a nice old lady in a wimple, beaming.
Aunt Irene found it irritating. She herself possessed a number of icons, but they represented proper saints, correctly dressed with haloes, long-robed mussel-shell-shaped thighs and angular fingers raised in benediction. Moreover her sister had probably despatched this portrait of a Blessed old girl as a reproach, a reminder; for she feared that Aunt Irene was backsliding, and frequently wrote to say so.
November 17, 2017
Reading this delightfully quirky novel was like sitting on a comfortably overstuffed couch covered in floral upholstery while drinking tea and listening to an elderly relative tell wacky stories from her younger days. Ellis writes with great charm and plenty of British wit. Never mind the plot, the book is driven mainly by the wonderful, colorful characters: Aunt Irene, an eccectric middle-aged woman living in London; Kyril, Irene's bad nephew who shares her house; Valentine, the novice nun whom Irene's abbess sister has sent for a visit, and who performs small miracles; Mrs. Mason, Irene's sour cleaning woman; and Mrs. O'Connor, matriarch of a clan of thieves.
October 24, 2018
This is one of the best books I've read. 160 pages or less, the book is both wonderfully written and a lesson on writing well. Not a word out of place, not a word added, not a word reduced. It's perfect.
Aunt Irene has a sister Berthe who is the Mother Superior at a convent. She sends Valentine (who is Black and the year is 1954) to Aunt Irene to 'test' whether Valentine is truly meant to take the veil. The test is nothing but living amidst what is perceived normalcy.
Aunt Irene has her nephew Kyril who stays with her. Cruel, handsome, without remorse and terrified of boredom. It's not what happens in the book that makes it so damn good. It's the people, the way the think, the way the act and behave so beautifully captured by Alice Thomas Ellis.
The strange thing is, Alice Thomas Ellis and Beryl Bainbridge were best of friends. And they seemed to share obscurity as well.
Aunt Irene has a sister Berthe who is the Mother Superior at a convent. She sends Valentine (who is Black and the year is 1954) to Aunt Irene to 'test' whether Valentine is truly meant to take the veil. The test is nothing but living amidst what is perceived normalcy.
Aunt Irene has her nephew Kyril who stays with her. Cruel, handsome, without remorse and terrified of boredom. It's not what happens in the book that makes it so damn good. It's the people, the way the think, the way the act and behave so beautifully captured by Alice Thomas Ellis.
The strange thing is, Alice Thomas Ellis and Beryl Bainbridge were best of friends. And they seemed to share obscurity as well.
March 12, 2013
I find her writing irresistible. Like this:
Little Mr Sirocco moved out that evening, permitting himself to be rehoused as obediently as a guinea pig, and they all helped carry his cases.
I look forward to reading everything Ellis wrote, and then waiting a few years, and reading it all again.
But now, Spoiler Alert!
The title alone was enough to make me want to read this book. It was rewarding and annoying and humorous by turns.
I only wish she'd have wrapped up a few of those loose ends...what happens to Valentine, Kyril, Mrs. Mason, and why did Mr. Sorocco have to kill himself, and what did the feathers in his room signify, and why did the apple wither.
Little Mr Sirocco moved out that evening, permitting himself to be rehoused as obediently as a guinea pig, and they all helped carry his cases.
I look forward to reading everything Ellis wrote, and then waiting a few years, and reading it all again.
But now, Spoiler Alert!
The title alone was enough to make me want to read this book. It was rewarding and annoying and humorous by turns.
I only wish she'd have wrapped up a few of those loose ends...what happens to Valentine, Kyril, Mrs. Mason, and why did Mr. Sorocco have to kill himself, and what did the feathers in his room signify, and why did the apple wither.
August 18, 2012
I love the madness and eccentricity of this book. ATE doesn't make me laugh out loud but she does make me chuckle inside and I love losing myself in the strange worlds she creates.
April 5, 2025
The 27th Kingdom—shortlisted for the 1982 Booker Prize—is a riotous exploration of faith and humanity that showcases Ellis’s rare gift for making you laugh on one page and ponder your soul on the next.
In 1954 Chelsea, Aunt Irene and her devilish nephew Kyril share a chaotic home. Into this mix comes Valentine, a novice nun with unusual gifts.
Ellis writes beautifully about the sacred amid the ridiculous. She can conjure an exquisite moment – “the slatted sunlight from the blinded window tigering his sad face” – then in the next breath deliver a wicked punchline. Her bone-dry wit catches you off guard, and makes you snort - “her first husband, Clovis, had been a Frenchman, until he’d died” and “I don’t know what the second course was…I know how it died, though.”
Beneath the levity – amid squabbles and hints of the miraculous – lies a sincere exploration of belief and morality. Valentine’s presence amplifies each character’s sins, hopes, and acts of grace. Ellis raises big questions with a light touch: what does goodness mean in everyday life? Can faith and cynicism coexist under one roof?
I keep returning to Ellis’s work because she leaves me amused, a bit enlightened, and appreciative of the messy, miraculous business of being human.
In 1954 Chelsea, Aunt Irene and her devilish nephew Kyril share a chaotic home. Into this mix comes Valentine, a novice nun with unusual gifts.
Ellis writes beautifully about the sacred amid the ridiculous. She can conjure an exquisite moment – “the slatted sunlight from the blinded window tigering his sad face” – then in the next breath deliver a wicked punchline. Her bone-dry wit catches you off guard, and makes you snort - “her first husband, Clovis, had been a Frenchman, until he’d died” and “I don’t know what the second course was…I know how it died, though.”
Beneath the levity – amid squabbles and hints of the miraculous – lies a sincere exploration of belief and morality. Valentine’s presence amplifies each character’s sins, hopes, and acts of grace. Ellis raises big questions with a light touch: what does goodness mean in everyday life? Can faith and cynicism coexist under one roof?
I keep returning to Ellis’s work because she leaves me amused, a bit enlightened, and appreciative of the messy, miraculous business of being human.
June 30, 2025
It’s easy to see why this novel is mostly forgotten today. It is little more than a barrage of pointless noise. It has nothing to say, and can only offer up some poorly-drawn characters, working-class clichés (I doubt Alice Thomas Ellis ever had a conversation with anyone who wasn’t an insufferable toff) and a large dollop of casual racism, complimented by the occasional tinge of homophobia. Utterly dreadful in every way, this is by far one of the worst books ever to be shortlisted for the Booker prize.
December 10, 2025
“… the atmosphere there caused her to realize fully for the first time just how deeply everyone she knew disapproved of everyone else she knew.”
A charmingly worrisome ex-nun sits around worrying about a cast of interesting and charmingly British neighbors, while taking care of a black teenage nun who happens to be a saint capable of causing miracles (though this is never very relevant). Basically nothing happens but there are some moments of genuinely fantastic writing. I really enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t expect most people to.
A charmingly worrisome ex-nun sits around worrying about a cast of interesting and charmingly British neighbors, while taking care of a black teenage nun who happens to be a saint capable of causing miracles (though this is never very relevant). Basically nothing happens but there are some moments of genuinely fantastic writing. I really enjoyed it, but I wouldn’t expect most people to.
July 20, 2024
Reminded me a bit of William Trevor
November 16, 2024
I finished the book, put it down and thought "What was all that about?".
September 21, 2025
A strange book, to be honest. The characters and plot both feel underbaked, in some way. Not my favourite of ATE’s work.
June 4, 2021
Shortlisted for the 1982 Booker Prize.
Aunt Irene (pronounced I-ree-na) has moved across Europe from her home in the east, through Ukraine and other cities and countries to land in her 27th location, Chelsea in London. There she inhabits the Dancing Master House with her nephew, Kyril, and lodger Mr Sirocco. The house is thrown into disarray when Irene receives a letter from her sister, a Reverend Mother in a nunnery in Wales, informing her that a young West Indian postulate, Valentine, is being sent from the nunnery to live with Irene, presumably to have her faith tested in some way. This short novel starts off very well indeed. The characters are brilliantly, and amusingly illuminated and the setup promises fun and revelations. Unfortunately it fails to deliver, and none of the main characters, bar one, evolves in any way. After the first 50 pages or so the novel just coasts along with little drama and no plot to speak of. Everything seems to happen off-stage, which is especially true with a large party that Irene hosts that sounds like a riot. Could have been great. It isn’t. R: 3.2/5.0
Aunt Irene (pronounced I-ree-na) has moved across Europe from her home in the east, through Ukraine and other cities and countries to land in her 27th location, Chelsea in London. There she inhabits the Dancing Master House with her nephew, Kyril, and lodger Mr Sirocco. The house is thrown into disarray when Irene receives a letter from her sister, a Reverend Mother in a nunnery in Wales, informing her that a young West Indian postulate, Valentine, is being sent from the nunnery to live with Irene, presumably to have her faith tested in some way. This short novel starts off very well indeed. The characters are brilliantly, and amusingly illuminated and the setup promises fun and revelations. Unfortunately it fails to deliver, and none of the main characters, bar one, evolves in any way. After the first 50 pages or so the novel just coasts along with little drama and no plot to speak of. Everything seems to happen off-stage, which is especially true with a large party that Irene hosts that sounds like a riot. Could have been great. It isn’t. R: 3.2/5.0
July 19, 2019
What is it about Valentine, the black postulant nun, that causes strange things to happen, or to seem to happen, the miraculous and the tragic, and what is the magnetic power that she seems to hold over men?
Released from the order to test her vocation, she is sent to live in the 27th kingdom, actually a pre-gentrified 1954 Chelsea, in the final home of the Rev. Mother’s much-travelled Russian émigré sister Irene (to be pronounced Irina) and her nephew Kyril.
In truth, the Rev. Mother is rather afraid of her new charge – a thaumaturge she calls her, a worker of miracles – and we never quite learn whether this is a power she exercises wilfully, unconsciously, or simply in the minds of others.
Whatever it is, it sends one man to his death and nearly another, and yet there is a serenity about her presence. “There was about Valentine something of the ease and relief of a ghostless garden at dusk,” Irene concludes.
The aunt has an old-fashioned, aristocratic view of the world, but moderated by progressive ideas about women, religion and capital punishment. In a memorable line, she recalls how the army shot cowards: “Homeopathy, surely, carried to its wildest extreme.”
The writing is darkly funny throughout, with little darts that made me laugh. “I like your hat,” her char tells Irene, who immediately retorts, “What’s wrong with my hat.” Just one line that tells a lot about both characters and their relationship.
The story treads delicately between the real and the fanciful, in the habits of this displaced bohemian household, of their neighbours the drunken major and his long-suffering wife, and of the criminal O’Connors.
To a modern audience, this 1982 parody may seem patronising with its exaggerated working class attitudes, farcically absurd beliefs and cor blimey dialogue.
Yet the surreal comedy has enough to amuse and keep the reader guessing – will the devilishly handsome Kyril seduce the saintly Valentine, will the taxman (or whoever he is) finally grab Irene, will Focus the cat, with a view of the world as silent and detached as that of Valentine, get his rat?
We are left with the unexplained, and finally with a wink from Ellis that she’s just made it all up for fun. And isn’t that the point?
Released from the order to test her vocation, she is sent to live in the 27th kingdom, actually a pre-gentrified 1954 Chelsea, in the final home of the Rev. Mother’s much-travelled Russian émigré sister Irene (to be pronounced Irina) and her nephew Kyril.
In truth, the Rev. Mother is rather afraid of her new charge – a thaumaturge she calls her, a worker of miracles – and we never quite learn whether this is a power she exercises wilfully, unconsciously, or simply in the minds of others.
Whatever it is, it sends one man to his death and nearly another, and yet there is a serenity about her presence. “There was about Valentine something of the ease and relief of a ghostless garden at dusk,” Irene concludes.
The aunt has an old-fashioned, aristocratic view of the world, but moderated by progressive ideas about women, religion and capital punishment. In a memorable line, she recalls how the army shot cowards: “Homeopathy, surely, carried to its wildest extreme.”
The writing is darkly funny throughout, with little darts that made me laugh. “I like your hat,” her char tells Irene, who immediately retorts, “What’s wrong with my hat.” Just one line that tells a lot about both characters and their relationship.
The story treads delicately between the real and the fanciful, in the habits of this displaced bohemian household, of their neighbours the drunken major and his long-suffering wife, and of the criminal O’Connors.
To a modern audience, this 1982 parody may seem patronising with its exaggerated working class attitudes, farcically absurd beliefs and cor blimey dialogue.
Yet the surreal comedy has enough to amuse and keep the reader guessing – will the devilishly handsome Kyril seduce the saintly Valentine, will the taxman (or whoever he is) finally grab Irene, will Focus the cat, with a view of the world as silent and detached as that of Valentine, get his rat?
We are left with the unexplained, and finally with a wink from Ellis that she’s just made it all up for fun. And isn’t that the point?
October 9, 2019
This is my introduction to the work of Alice Thomas Ellis. An enjoyable read in an "unadorned" simple prose style that reminded me of Muriel Spark: not a bad thing - I enjoy the clear and direct and matter of fact approach to story-telling! - and it allows ATE's sharp, and at times wicked humour to shine through.
"It was suitable, she [Aunt Irene, the central character] thought, for persons of her background and education to dismiss as potty as many theories as they liked, but it was very annoying when the unlettered did it.": just one example of the tone as Aunt Irene tries to support the theory of evolution, in spite of her own inclination to the book of Genesis. The not very long novel abounds in such little scenes that make the novel's richness.
Under this light-hearted - and perhaps fairly inconsequential work, there is still something deep in our understanding of people and motives. I felt, among the chaos and misunderstandings, I was getting an insight into the drivers of belief and ambitions of the characters - an idiosyncratic lot - simply through farce. The last section of the last chapter put me back into doubt: deep analysis of character or Whitehall Farce? On balance I think it is simply the pure joy of anarchic use of wicked observation and malicious wit: read with pleasure!
"It was suitable, she [Aunt Irene, the central character] thought, for persons of her background and education to dismiss as potty as many theories as they liked, but it was very annoying when the unlettered did it.": just one example of the tone as Aunt Irene tries to support the theory of evolution, in spite of her own inclination to the book of Genesis. The not very long novel abounds in such little scenes that make the novel's richness.
Under this light-hearted - and perhaps fairly inconsequential work, there is still something deep in our understanding of people and motives. I felt, among the chaos and misunderstandings, I was getting an insight into the drivers of belief and ambitions of the characters - an idiosyncratic lot - simply through farce. The last section of the last chapter put me back into doubt: deep analysis of character or Whitehall Farce? On balance I think it is simply the pure joy of anarchic use of wicked observation and malicious wit: read with pleasure!
July 15, 2023
My reviews have started getting longer, but I'll keep this short, as I'm not convinced this book is worth the effort.
Ellis sits seemingly at the very centre of a ven diagram between Beryl Bainbridge and Muriel Spark. Bainbridge was a fellow Liverpudlian author of the third-quarter of the 20thC, who wrote sitcom-tinged but dark-bordered stories of terrace-house life between the classes. Muriel Spark was the acidly comic Catholic with an eye for international cultural difference, and a penchant for the ritualistic. Ellis stirs the two into a pot for 'The 27th Kingdom'.
I quite enjoyed the anthropomorphic cat, brassy northern dialogue, and prickly judgmentalism, including between the knowingly bohemian lead, Irene (pronounced 'Irene-er', to betray ethnic origins) and her char, the proto-Hyacinth Bucket Mrs Mason.
I was less keen on the jumbled and thinly-woven bumping into each other. The book can be envisaged as a cupboard drawer, containing the apple of Valentine (the nun staying temporarily with Irene), but to truly extend the metaphor, that drawer is full of lots of other crap. Arguably life isn't neat, and as the tart said to the vicar, you can tell a lot about a person by looking in their drawers.
I've spent long enough looking, however brief. It wasn't bad, but I have been more impressed.
Ellis sits seemingly at the very centre of a ven diagram between Beryl Bainbridge and Muriel Spark. Bainbridge was a fellow Liverpudlian author of the third-quarter of the 20thC, who wrote sitcom-tinged but dark-bordered stories of terrace-house life between the classes. Muriel Spark was the acidly comic Catholic with an eye for international cultural difference, and a penchant for the ritualistic. Ellis stirs the two into a pot for 'The 27th Kingdom'.
I quite enjoyed the anthropomorphic cat, brassy northern dialogue, and prickly judgmentalism, including between the knowingly bohemian lead, Irene (pronounced 'Irene-er', to betray ethnic origins) and her char, the proto-Hyacinth Bucket Mrs Mason.
I was less keen on the jumbled and thinly-woven bumping into each other. The book can be envisaged as a cupboard drawer, containing the apple of Valentine (the nun staying temporarily with Irene), but to truly extend the metaphor, that drawer is full of lots of other crap. Arguably life isn't neat, and as the tart said to the vicar, you can tell a lot about a person by looking in their drawers.
I've spent long enough looking, however brief. It wasn't bad, but I have been more impressed.
June 9, 2010
I picked this book almost on a whim after reading an essay introduction to the author by Peter Leithart. I didn't know what to expect, but found myself pleasantly surprised by a funny and introspective look on the contradictions found in men. Though I did find much to like, the book was ultimately unsatisfying in that it was too British for me--too bound to its native country and Catholicism for me to really get it like a Catholic Brit would.
I may get around to reading her again, but it will probably be a long time.
I may get around to reading her again, but it will probably be a long time.
Currently reading
December 9, 2009so far I've liked it....but that only means the sentence: It was a dark and stormy night, the dogs were silent, it was raining, suddenly shots rang out. A...."
But I'll get to the rest of it soon.
;-)
But I'll get to the rest of it soon.
;-)
August 5, 2023
I love this book. I reread it every couple of years.
May 26, 2009
I finished the book, put it down and thought "What was all that about?".
June 1, 2011
Having once said that ATE is always reliable, this is not my favourite ATE book, but perhaps because it is more 'of its time' than others. Very much of a certain milieu too.
Want to read
July 29, 201182 shortlisted for booker prize
May 16, 2013
Nicely written but not much action going on. Would have liked it if Valentine's character and Kyril's were more developed and analysed that they are in the book
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