All That Glitters

by Frances Parkinson Keyes

768 pp paperback complete & unabridged. Vital epic dynamic. Illustrated cover ed with illustrations white & black lettering. Vas panorama of Washington politics, high society, the diplomatic corps, the military, a lavish novel of the nationsl capital with all its glitter, intrigue and excitemen. Page frowning, firm no creases in spine. Minor nicks around cover Pages edged in green. No marks.

Genres: Fiction

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

Frances Parkinson Keyes was an American author who wrote about her life as the wife of a U.S. Senator and novels set in New England, Louisiana, and Europe. A convert to Roman Catholicism, her later works frequently featured Catholic themes and beliefs. Her last name rhymes with "skies," not "keys."

Reviews

[Val Robson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm in two minds about this book. I normally love the writing of Frances Parkinson Keyes and her stories stay with me for a long time. This story has also stuck in my mind but at 640 pages and with lots of description about dresses, ships and houses I just found it very slow at times. It's taken me about 6 week to finish it, with gaps in the middle. I would normally read a book in 4 or 5 days so this was very slow for me.

It all revolves around life in Washington DC in the 1930 and centres on a senator's family and other people in the local 'high society'.

The author is clearly very knowledgeable about politics, not just in the USA but other parts of the world as many incidents and issues are mentioned. I did get side tracked several times as I looked up things like 'The Chaco War' and 'The Leticia Incident' on Wikipedia. Maybe it's as well I was reading this in hardback as I may have taken twice as long to read the book if I'd had the benefit of reading it on a Kindle and being able to do such research very easily. On one hand it was interesting to learn of these things but on the other it did feel like they were just shoehorned into the story as they were often mentioned in long lists with no explanation of what they were.

There wasn't an one character that I took to as some seemed to start off nice but everyone seemed to be behaving badly after a while.

WWII is declared towards the end of the book and enters into the plot. Interesting that this book was written in 1942 so the author did not know the outcome of the war at this point but did seem very confident in the eventual liberation of France. Quite interesting to write a book about such a major world event in the middle of it.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of fascinating detail in this story, but I didn't always like the characters. Zoe Wing, especially, was hard to take at times (judging from the two books by Keyes that I've read, she has a tendency to create intriguing, believable female characters who quickly morph into annoying Mary Sue's). It's a book that rather outstays its welcome, but I enjoyed the insider view of between-the-wars Washington DC.

[Coline · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Traduction: 377 pages)

[Pattye Nicolls · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good story but dated and riddled with racism

[Marielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

(P)
I bought this book in a second hand bookstore some 20 years ago, having no idea I would live it so much that i've reread it countless times.

[Madelaine]

What a good read!