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Loving Sylvie
Elizabeth Smither takes us into the richly imagined worlds of three women, written with such beautifully deft skill as to make them vivid and alive.
A sensual, witty novel that cleverly weaves in the stories of three generations of women: Sylvie, her mother Madeleine and grandmother Isobel, focusing most strongly on the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter.
The narrative shifts between the points of view of each main character, telling their stories with gentle, deeply observant humour, through their love affairs, food, rivalries, marriages, pets and all the beautiful minutiae of everyday life.
Elizabeth draws the threads of each story together subtly and surprisingly to achieve a perfectly resolved ending.
A sensual, witty novel that cleverly weaves in the stories of three generations of women: Sylvie, her mother Madeleine and grandmother Isobel, focusing most strongly on the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter.
The narrative shifts between the points of view of each main character, telling their stories with gentle, deeply observant humour, through their love affairs, food, rivalries, marriages, pets and all the beautiful minutiae of everyday life.
Elizabeth draws the threads of each story together subtly and surprisingly to achieve a perfectly resolved ending.
328 pages, Paperback
First published April 5, 2019
13 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Smither
48 books6 followersElizabeth Edwina Smither MNZM is a New Zealand poet and writer.
She has published eighteen collections of poetry and was New Zealand's poet laureate from 2001 to 2003. In 2004 she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Literature from the University of Auckland, and in 2008 she received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry. She has also published five novels and five short story collections, as well as journals and memoirs. Her poetry collection Night Horse won the Ockham New Zealand Book Award for Poetry in 2018.
She has published eighteen collections of poetry and was New Zealand's poet laureate from 2001 to 2003. In 2004 she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Literature from the University of Auckland, and in 2008 she received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry. She has also published five novels and five short story collections, as well as journals and memoirs. Her poetry collection Night Horse won the Ockham New Zealand Book Award for Poetry in 2018.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 17, 2019
Shout out to Allen and Unwin NZ who hooked me up with this. It’s a beautifully written novel (I can tell the writer is a poet) about families and relationships, and the complexity of being an individual within this context. I’m probably not the target audience, but it’s the perfect book to buy your mum or grandma. I’m off to give this to my Nana who I’m sure will love it.
February 28, 2020
If this book was a person, I would fight them.
January 17, 2020
I finished this rather inconsistent yet deeply moving story this morning and confess it took a lot longer to read than it should have. I was excited to read it as it seemed right up my alley (plot and style wise) and was heartily recommended by one who knows such things. The author is the ex wife of a famous NZ artist Micheal Smithers whom I have met a number of times due to life’s intersections. His work is quite something so I had high expectations of Elizabeth’s writing (perhaps this was a little unfair).
While reading it I found myself standing at the reception of a hotel holding the book looking directly at two iconic Micheal Smithers paintings......this all felt rather convoluted yet weirdly right. None of this however helped get me inspired by the book. It starts well if a little dull and then kind of diverts off into erratic weirdness yet finishes spectacularly. Hence why it took so long and the above preamble is why I persevered.
The story is three generations of women from one lineage. Mother (Isobel) daughter (Madeleine) and granddaughter (Sylvie). Madeline who is a wee bit flakey doesn’t really get the mothering thing so Isobel takes over. She then gets to float back to France where she kind of exists in a weird sparse way. While the living goes on back here in NZ with Sylvie, Isobel and the delightful gentle Kit, art lover, husband, father and grandfather.
The book begins at Sylvies wedding and wends it’s way through to a concluding finale which is where the pace slows gets the connection with the characters especially Isobel goes up a notch and becomes hauntingly beautiful. Naturally this pleased me as it made my fortitude worth while. There was one sentence mid way through that really kept me in the game which I feel is worth repeating in case my review puts you off. Isobel thinks as she lays in bed disinclined about rising “the body’s awakening she had taken for granted when she was young; now it seemed like a factory in which someone switched the lights on over a cold concrete floor.......”.
At this point I’m unsure if I will try another Elizabeth Smither or leave it here, time will tell. As Abraham Lincoln reportedly Said “The best thing about the future is it comes one day at a time”.
Happy New Year and farewell to 2019.
While reading it I found myself standing at the reception of a hotel holding the book looking directly at two iconic Micheal Smithers paintings......this all felt rather convoluted yet weirdly right. None of this however helped get me inspired by the book. It starts well if a little dull and then kind of diverts off into erratic weirdness yet finishes spectacularly. Hence why it took so long and the above preamble is why I persevered.
The story is three generations of women from one lineage. Mother (Isobel) daughter (Madeleine) and granddaughter (Sylvie). Madeline who is a wee bit flakey doesn’t really get the mothering thing so Isobel takes over. She then gets to float back to France where she kind of exists in a weird sparse way. While the living goes on back here in NZ with Sylvie, Isobel and the delightful gentle Kit, art lover, husband, father and grandfather.
The book begins at Sylvies wedding and wends it’s way through to a concluding finale which is where the pace slows gets the connection with the characters especially Isobel goes up a notch and becomes hauntingly beautiful. Naturally this pleased me as it made my fortitude worth while. There was one sentence mid way through that really kept me in the game which I feel is worth repeating in case my review puts you off. Isobel thinks as she lays in bed disinclined about rising “the body’s awakening she had taken for granted when she was young; now it seemed like a factory in which someone switched the lights on over a cold concrete floor.......”.
At this point I’m unsure if I will try another Elizabeth Smither or leave it here, time will tell. As Abraham Lincoln reportedly Said “The best thing about the future is it comes one day at a time”.
Happy New Year and farewell to 2019.
April 30, 2019
Book Review
.
Loving Sylvie
Elizabeth Smither
.
Thank you goes to Allen & Unwin (NZ) ... for gifting me a free copy, in exchange for an honest review. This book is set up into "parts", no chapters, however, there are frequent breaks in the book. This book is about three generations. Sylvie, Madeleine, Isobel.
.
Sylvie
The story actually begins on Sylvies wedding day. Ben is her new husband. Throughout the story she tells us briefly her life before marriage, marriage itself, plus the dreaded Mother-in-law, Cora, who originally invited Sylvie to a weekly dinner at her place, but escaped as she is a horrible obnoxious person.... she also acquired a rent free house through a dog.
.
Madeleine
Lives in Paris and has done so for a number of years. She tells us, looking back on her life how she managed to be there, briefly comming back home to Auckland to conceive Sylvie, at the age of 23, returning back to Paris when Sylvie reached 4. Madeleine left Sylvie with Isobel. Her travels not only to Paris, but a short period in Melbourne, Australia.
.
Isobel
Pulls out bits of her life, tells the trials and tribulations with her own daughter, Madeleine, as well as bringing up a teenaged granddaughter, Sylvie. Plus life before children, and her relationship with her own husband.
.
I certainly enjoyed this book. Elizabeth Smither writes beautifully in a poetic style and I'm not surprised, Elizabeth has eighteen collections of poetry under her hat, so this made for a very dreamy, yet realistic, quite entertaining kind of a read. The story goes backwards and forwards in between, Sylvie, Madeleine, Isobel and Cora. The story is cleverly interwoven to tie all 4 females together. In the story, there are many reference to books, due to Madeleine working in a book shop, also her parents were avid readers. Also, many, many references to buildngs/places in France, one of which was severely burnt with fire recently. This book maybe saddened by some near the end, infact, right at the end .... a bitter sweet moment you could say, that made me think ..... wow!! I wasnt saddened by it, but more ... intrigued, ending with food for thought and pondering over the last few sentences.
.
This book comes highly recommend by me ..... and would suit anyone who loves generational books, who loves historical places, as we are transported to France (Paris) with Madeleine, places are mentioned, like, Tullamarine, St Kilda, Flinders Street and taken down streets where cake shops were in a line (all in Melbourne) Australia ....and anyone who is interested in New Zealand (Auckland), as this is where Sylvie and Isobel live and anyone who loves the dynamics of people in particular as this book will intrigue you.
.
Loving Sylvie
Elizabeth Smither
.
Thank you goes to Allen & Unwin (NZ) ... for gifting me a free copy, in exchange for an honest review. This book is set up into "parts", no chapters, however, there are frequent breaks in the book. This book is about three generations. Sylvie, Madeleine, Isobel.
.
Sylvie
The story actually begins on Sylvies wedding day. Ben is her new husband. Throughout the story she tells us briefly her life before marriage, marriage itself, plus the dreaded Mother-in-law, Cora, who originally invited Sylvie to a weekly dinner at her place, but escaped as she is a horrible obnoxious person.... she also acquired a rent free house through a dog.
.
Madeleine
Lives in Paris and has done so for a number of years. She tells us, looking back on her life how she managed to be there, briefly comming back home to Auckland to conceive Sylvie, at the age of 23, returning back to Paris when Sylvie reached 4. Madeleine left Sylvie with Isobel. Her travels not only to Paris, but a short period in Melbourne, Australia.
.
Isobel
Pulls out bits of her life, tells the trials and tribulations with her own daughter, Madeleine, as well as bringing up a teenaged granddaughter, Sylvie. Plus life before children, and her relationship with her own husband.
.
I certainly enjoyed this book. Elizabeth Smither writes beautifully in a poetic style and I'm not surprised, Elizabeth has eighteen collections of poetry under her hat, so this made for a very dreamy, yet realistic, quite entertaining kind of a read. The story goes backwards and forwards in between, Sylvie, Madeleine, Isobel and Cora. The story is cleverly interwoven to tie all 4 females together. In the story, there are many reference to books, due to Madeleine working in a book shop, also her parents were avid readers. Also, many, many references to buildngs/places in France, one of which was severely burnt with fire recently. This book maybe saddened by some near the end, infact, right at the end .... a bitter sweet moment you could say, that made me think ..... wow!! I wasnt saddened by it, but more ... intrigued, ending with food for thought and pondering over the last few sentences.
.
This book comes highly recommend by me ..... and would suit anyone who loves generational books, who loves historical places, as we are transported to France (Paris) with Madeleine, places are mentioned, like, Tullamarine, St Kilda, Flinders Street and taken down streets where cake shops were in a line (all in Melbourne) Australia ....and anyone who is interested in New Zealand (Auckland), as this is where Sylvie and Isobel live and anyone who loves the dynamics of people in particular as this book will intrigue you.
April 19, 2019
"Loving Sylvie" is one of a clutch of local New Zealand stories I have read recently. All of them have been good but Elizabeth Smither is exceptional, and not just because she is from my hometown of New Plymouth.
Essentially this is the tale of three generations of women, grandmother Isobel, daughter Madeleine and granddaughter Sylvie. Their lives are intertwined , and while not too complicated, the story moves around a lot, as they do. Auckland, Paris, Melbourne.
This is the work of a confident and very talented writer, with an eye for detail, but still creating a fresh forward motion approach. Their lives are deeply observed, with wit and humour on show in every chapter. Love affairs, rivalries, marriages, and even the minutiae of everyday life are taken in their stride. You really live the emotions of these three extraordinary women.
"Loving Sylvie" is the best of the forty five books of have read in 2019.
Essentially this is the tale of three generations of women, grandmother Isobel, daughter Madeleine and granddaughter Sylvie. Their lives are intertwined , and while not too complicated, the story moves around a lot, as they do. Auckland, Paris, Melbourne.
This is the work of a confident and very talented writer, with an eye for detail, but still creating a fresh forward motion approach. Their lives are deeply observed, with wit and humour on show in every chapter. Love affairs, rivalries, marriages, and even the minutiae of everyday life are taken in their stride. You really live the emotions of these three extraordinary women.
"Loving Sylvie" is the best of the forty five books of have read in 2019.
October 3, 2021
Sorry, but I just couldn’t finish this book. And I really, really tried. It feels like the author just so desperately wanted to write something beautiful, but has them done herself a disservice by cramming in so many overly eloquent sentences, thoughts aimed at the ethereal and phrases intended to be loaded with meaning that it just falls apart. It’s disjointed, hard to follow and vague to the point of frustrating.
October 30, 2019
Just couldn't get into this book. May be the writing style or just me not in the right mood. Will try it again.
April 13, 2020
Elizabeth Smither is one of New Zealand’s treasured poets and writers. One-time poet laureate and much awarded, her oeuvre is truly awesome. Alongside 20 poetry collections, she has written five novels, each following the conventions of literary fiction: beautifully, sometimes poetically written; focusing on each character’s innermost thoughts and motivations, often disjointed or seemingly irrelevant to the moment. The minutiae of everyday life are examined in exhaustive detail. The narrative arc is of lesser importance; the characters are everything. Cognisance of these conventions helps non-literary readers like me appreciate the nuances and literary worth of Loving Sylvie, which has been shortlisted for the Ockham Book Awards.
The character arc is at its core. Isobel Lehmann and her husband Kit have raised their granddaughter Sylvie in the absence of her fey mother Madeleine, who has fled Melbourne and ends up working in Le Livre Bleu, a Parisian bookshop. At some stage (timelines are incidental in Loving Sylvie – there are three different timeframes in three different cities) Madeleine moves to Auckland with her husband Freddy and returns to Melbourne to see Isobel, who is dying. Sylvie is learning to cope with her university studies as well as two jobs and her new husband Ben. (The novel begins with a beautifully drawn scene with Kit rowing Sylvie in her wedding dress across a lake to Isobel, waiting on the jetty with the bridal bouquet.)
Madeleine, by her very ethereal nature, is but a shadow of a character, distant from her family and also from us. Sylvie and the delightful Kit and Isobel are more rounded and present. Though pretending disinterest, Isobel follows Sylvie during her teenage midnight excursions with boys to make sure she is safe and later watches out for Sylvie’s immensely difficult mother-in-law Cora, intending to save Sylvie from the distress she causes. Also seen through Smither’s fine eye for detail and refractive lens are several life-changing events, which are often revealed through their effect on each character rather than explicitly, or through what is left unsaid. Like many of us, characters refrain from explanations, leaving it to others (and the reader) to fill in the gaps: “Under conversation, under the most superficial enquiry from which all meaning had been diluted and rediluted until it was little more than a stain, lay inchoate meaning. Words there were thin; looks, a gesture, took up the slack.”
Instead of analysing events, detailed description is reserved for internal thoughts and allusions (often literary), stunning metaphors and similes, while respecting the minutiae of everyday occurrences or inanimate objects, such as the characteristics of a piece of fruit the neighbouring greengrocer regularly gives Sylvie, or an anecdotal backstory for each of the characters. Points of view are switched all the time, sometimes in the same paragraph, so quick are the thought processes.
Loving Sylvie is a gentle, beautifully written book, that moves and also entwines the reader, finally pulling all the many threads together for a cleverly resolved ending.
The character arc is at its core. Isobel Lehmann and her husband Kit have raised their granddaughter Sylvie in the absence of her fey mother Madeleine, who has fled Melbourne and ends up working in Le Livre Bleu, a Parisian bookshop. At some stage (timelines are incidental in Loving Sylvie – there are three different timeframes in three different cities) Madeleine moves to Auckland with her husband Freddy and returns to Melbourne to see Isobel, who is dying. Sylvie is learning to cope with her university studies as well as two jobs and her new husband Ben. (The novel begins with a beautifully drawn scene with Kit rowing Sylvie in her wedding dress across a lake to Isobel, waiting on the jetty with the bridal bouquet.)
Madeleine, by her very ethereal nature, is but a shadow of a character, distant from her family and also from us. Sylvie and the delightful Kit and Isobel are more rounded and present. Though pretending disinterest, Isobel follows Sylvie during her teenage midnight excursions with boys to make sure she is safe and later watches out for Sylvie’s immensely difficult mother-in-law Cora, intending to save Sylvie from the distress she causes. Also seen through Smither’s fine eye for detail and refractive lens are several life-changing events, which are often revealed through their effect on each character rather than explicitly, or through what is left unsaid. Like many of us, characters refrain from explanations, leaving it to others (and the reader) to fill in the gaps: “Under conversation, under the most superficial enquiry from which all meaning had been diluted and rediluted until it was little more than a stain, lay inchoate meaning. Words there were thin; looks, a gesture, took up the slack.”
Instead of analysing events, detailed description is reserved for internal thoughts and allusions (often literary), stunning metaphors and similes, while respecting the minutiae of everyday occurrences or inanimate objects, such as the characteristics of a piece of fruit the neighbouring greengrocer regularly gives Sylvie, or an anecdotal backstory for each of the characters. Points of view are switched all the time, sometimes in the same paragraph, so quick are the thought processes.
Loving Sylvie is a gentle, beautifully written book, that moves and also entwines the reader, finally pulling all the many threads together for a cleverly resolved ending.
August 21, 2024
I got this for a reading group at work and decided to read it as it is written by a New Plymouth author.
The story is over 3 generations Mother (Isobel) daughter (Madeleine) and granddaughter (Sylvie). I found Isobel felt that she had to step up and be the mother figure to Sylvie, and I felt that Madeline was a self-centered mother, who only cared about what she wanted in life, and then there was grandad Kit who done anything for all his girls.
It starts at Sylvie’s wedding to Ben and eventually we hear about the dreaded mother-in-law Cora, the ending was surprising. I couldn’t sink my teeth into this book, it failed to transport me away but I finished it.
At this point I’m unsure that I would read another Elizabeth Smithers book, but I know I won’t be reading this again.
The story is over 3 generations Mother (Isobel) daughter (Madeleine) and granddaughter (Sylvie). I found Isobel felt that she had to step up and be the mother figure to Sylvie, and I felt that Madeline was a self-centered mother, who only cared about what she wanted in life, and then there was grandad Kit who done anything for all his girls.
It starts at Sylvie’s wedding to Ben and eventually we hear about the dreaded mother-in-law Cora, the ending was surprising. I couldn’t sink my teeth into this book, it failed to transport me away but I finished it.
At this point I’m unsure that I would read another Elizabeth Smithers book, but I know I won’t be reading this again.
April 1, 2020
This novel, from another interesting New Zealand writer is deservedly on the Ockham awards shortlist. It is the study of three generations of women in the same family and is set in Auckland, Paris and Melbourne. It explores how different personalities (cautious and passive or impetuous and active) lead to different outcomes and complicate love and relationships. The writing flows in a simple, readable way and Smither gives us insights into human feelings and behaviour that I found very convincing at the time of reading. However, I don't think it will be a novel that will stay with me.
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July 18, 2024I noticed one reviewer describe this as a literary novel and I agree. It is skilfully wordsmithed. They went on to say that it was also accessible. Here, I disagree. It starts with a quirky character making strange choices, and continues that was, the characters getting even more odd as the novel progresses, particularly Ben’s mother. Then, the convenience of the market interaction and resolution made me cross as just too convenient. Not for me.
December 18, 2025
A novel comprised of wonderfully poetic language and thoughtful ideas and insights, by one of NZ’s best writers. I am a big fan of inter-generational relationship stories but I did struggle to connect with these three protagonists and their arcs, possibly because the shifts between them were fluid.
November 7, 2023
Meandering, disjointed, excessively descriptive. Couldn't identify the plot initially, so didn't really care when it did emerge. Wouldn't have finished except it was for a bookgroup so I waded through to the end.
May 3, 2020
Struggled to finish it. Was not interested in the precious boring characters.
November 16, 2021
Had to give up halfway, which I never do!
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews