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Fielding's Folly
Fielding's Folly [Paperback] Frances Parkinson Keyes (Author) Paperback Avon; Pf edition (1972) Usually ships the next day. Well packed.
435 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1940
29 people want to read
About the author
Frances Parkinson Keyes
143 books93 followersFrances 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."
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 12, 2021
This is the worst joke I ever played on myself.
content warning for: domestic abuse, r**e, infidelity, and racism (use of N word and harmful stereotyping.)
content warning for: domestic abuse, r**e, infidelity, and racism (use of N word and harmful stereotyping.)
July 12, 2023
This whole book was a folly!!
Too many annoying parts, like dialect that makes southern blacks sound ridiculous, but that was par for the course back when this was written. There's also the husband, Francis's infidelities, his forcing himself on his wife, Eunice, his seeming to be content to lead almost separate lives, then his sudden realization that he didn't just marry her for social and/or monetary reasons, he really loves her! How about that!!
As for Eunice, she played the martyr once too often, then sought revenge on Francis (though she'd never call it that) by first leaving him, then threatening divorce (a scandal back then), then switching her threats to keeping his son from him. She also encourages the attentions of a former suitor, at the same time keeping him at arm's length. She teases the guy with hints that she'll become his mistress, deciding to go away with him, but only if he considers her a friend and houseguest (and NOT with benefits), as she doesn't want to sleep with him, but then again, she just might. She dangles the prospect of perhaps becoming his mistress like a carrot under his nose, then gets all affronted and offended when he has the nerve to kiss her and tell her he wants to sleep with her! Heavens, what a terrible, horrible man!!
Francis and Eunice were, in my opinion, two self-centered, crappy people, who truly deserved each other.
Truly F.P.K.'s folly!
Too many annoying parts, like dialect that makes southern blacks sound ridiculous, but that was par for the course back when this was written. There's also the husband, Francis's infidelities, his forcing himself on his wife, Eunice, his seeming to be content to lead almost separate lives, then his sudden realization that he didn't just marry her for social and/or monetary reasons, he really loves her! How about that!!
As for Eunice, she played the martyr once too often, then sought revenge on Francis (though she'd never call it that) by first leaving him, then threatening divorce (a scandal back then), then switching her threats to keeping his son from him. She also encourages the attentions of a former suitor, at the same time keeping him at arm's length. She teases the guy with hints that she'll become his mistress, deciding to go away with him, but only if he considers her a friend and houseguest (and NOT with benefits), as she doesn't want to sleep with him, but then again, she just might. She dangles the prospect of perhaps becoming his mistress like a carrot under his nose, then gets all affronted and offended when he has the nerve to kiss her and tell her he wants to sleep with her! Heavens, what a terrible, horrible man!!
Francis and Eunice were, in my opinion, two self-centered, crappy people, who truly deserved each other.
Truly F.P.K.'s folly!
November 11, 2023
Keyes is tricky to rate, but this kept me up until 3am reading and brought a few tears, so I'd say 4.5 stars for that.
Her books are modern for her era (this was first published in 1940) with completely flawed characters who are true to their era--and readers often don't like--but they're fully human. Keyes never shied away from forbidden topics. Plenty of scandal and "oh no he didn't" moments.
The dialect is often difficult to read with the spellings to show the speaker's accents, but it's not the main characters, so that disruption is minor.
Seeing the character HONOR BRIGHT in this one made me realize it connects to her book with that character's name as the title. Since I have it in my collection, I'll read that next though it takes place chronologically before this one. (I've read several of her connected Louisiana novels, but these will be the first of her connected VA books for me.)
Her books are modern for her era (this was first published in 1940) with completely flawed characters who are true to their era--and readers often don't like--but they're fully human. Keyes never shied away from forbidden topics. Plenty of scandal and "oh no he didn't" moments.
The dialect is often difficult to read with the spellings to show the speaker's accents, but it's not the main characters, so that disruption is minor.
Seeing the character HONOR BRIGHT in this one made me realize it connects to her book with that character's name as the title. Since I have it in my collection, I'll read that next though it takes place chronologically before this one. (I've read several of her connected Louisiana novels, but these will be the first of her connected VA books for me.)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews