The Fly In The Ointment

by Alice Thomas Ellis

132p white paperback with illustrated cover and orange spine, as new, pages clean, very good, this copy published in the year 1990

Genres: Fiction, British Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Alice 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.

Reviews

[Simona Ardelean-Samanta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has managed to do to me what almost to none did: strongly dislike the main character. But, let yourself not be fooled: one is expected to. She's pompous and lascivious, she nosy and exotic and she thinks too much of herself.
The Fly is invited to a wedding, but she wants to wear the white gown herself. She wants that because she's a Lilith and even if apparently she looks condescendingly towards Eve, she envies her a bit.

[Jonny Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily my favourite part of this trilogy — most interesting exploration of narrative form, most gripping side of the story we are hearing about and most wickedly fun narrator. Thoroughly enjoyable — and I am rather dismayed by some of the comments on here that appear to have entirely misunderstood absolutely everything about the character, her actions/motivations and her relationships with the others. Big note: you must read this trilogy as a trilogy in order!

[eLwYcKe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very enjoyable and not very funny. Lilith makes for an interesting lead character, but it's all a bit dull and unpleasant and lacks Ms.Ellis's usual wit and poetry.

[Bart · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was reasonably well written, although some of the digressions were a little confusing at moments. The thing that irked me most about this book was the rather forced interbellum atmosphere, I just couldn't become fond of this book.

[Joj]

i wanna read it
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