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Balkan Trilogy #2
The Spoilt City
'Her gallery of personages is huge, her scene painting superb, her pathos controlled, her humour quiet and civilised' - Anthony Burgess
'Glittering characterisation, sharp and eloquent writing' - Sunday Telegraph
'Wonderfully entertaining' - Observer
Bucharest, 1940. The city is on the brink of invasion and Guy and Harriet Pringle find their position growing ever more dangerous. Harriet longs for safety, while Guy's idealism frustrates his new wife. But when the Germans march in, Guy believes they must separate in a desperate bid to find safety, so Harriet leaves for Athens. The Spoilt City is a dramatic and colourful portrait of a city in turmoil, and of a young couple struggling to make their marriage work in the face of adversity.
'Glittering characterisation, sharp and eloquent writing' - Sunday Telegraph
'Wonderfully entertaining' - Observer
Bucharest, 1940. The city is on the brink of invasion and Guy and Harriet Pringle find their position growing ever more dangerous. Harriet longs for safety, while Guy's idealism frustrates his new wife. But when the Germans march in, Guy believes they must separate in a desperate bid to find safety, so Harriet leaves for Athens. The Spoilt City is a dramatic and colourful portrait of a city in turmoil, and of a young couple struggling to make their marriage work in the face of adversity.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
Olivia Manning
41 books189 followersOlivia Manning CBE was a British novelist, poet, writer and reviewer. Her fiction and non-fiction, frequently detailing journeys and personal odysseys, were principally set in England, Ireland, Europe and the Middle East. She often wrote from her personal experience, though her books also demonstrate strengths in imaginative writing. Her books are widely admired for her artistic eye and vivid descriptions of place.
In August 1939 she married R.D. Smith ("Reggie"), a British Council lecturer posted in Bucharest, Romania, and subsequently in Greece, Egypt and Palestine as the Nazis over-ran Eastern Europe. Her experiences formed the basis for her best known work, the six novels making up "The Balkan Trilogy" and "The Levant Trilogy," known collectively as Fortunes of War. As she had feared, real fame only came after her death in 1980, when an adaptation of "Fortunes of War" was televised in 1987.
In August 1939 she married R.D. Smith ("Reggie"), a British Council lecturer posted in Bucharest, Romania, and subsequently in Greece, Egypt and Palestine as the Nazis over-ran Eastern Europe. Her experiences formed the basis for her best known work, the six novels making up "The Balkan Trilogy" and "The Levant Trilogy," known collectively as Fortunes of War. As she had feared, real fame only came after her death in 1980, when an adaptation of "Fortunes of War" was televised in 1987.
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July 30, 2022
This second volume of the Balkan Trilogy is even more intense than the previous volume, and indeed The Great Fortune comes across as a prelude or introduction. The title of this one is ambivalent. It narrates how an attractive city in the past, a spoilt city, is spoiled by various outside powers.
The second part is more intense because the political events are numerous, complex and things happen fast. And as they are witnessed and experienced by average citizens in their average lives, they seem incomprehensible and bearers of extreme uncertainty. And indeed, most of the events that take place are the result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty of 1939 signed by Germany and Russia. But this Treaty is not even mentioned in the novel.
So, the novel begins with the Russian ultimatum of 1940 to Romania in which it announces that it is taking over Bessarabia (now part of Moldavia and the Ukraine) and part of Bukovina. For the readers in 2022 this episode is certainly ominous.
The Allies had condoned the Rumanian seizure of the Russian province in 1918, and now in 1940 it was their weakness hat prompted the Russians to demand it back again.
And:
Russia had invaded Rumania already eight times. The friendship of Russia has been more disastrous to Rumania than the enmity of the rest of the world.
As the war continued to look bad, first for France, and then for Britain (the Dunkirk evacuation figured in the previous volume), king Carol II of Romania felt that it was advisable, while maintaining its theoretical neutrality, to switch its affinities from the Allies to the Axis, hoping that the Germans would help in the recovery of Bessarabia. Seeking greater domestic strength, the fascist Iron Guard, inimical to the Romanian government until then, was given access to power. Their prize was racial cleansing.
But then another stroke happened, and Hungary took over most of Transylvania. The patience of the Romanians was running its course, and under the machinations of the prime minister Ion Antonescu, Carol II had to abdicate. This was in September 1940. Carol was succeeded by his son Michael in what was to be a constitutional monarchy with Antonescu as the strong pole This arrangement did not last long, and five years later, the new king eventually led a coup and imprisoned Antonescu.
This is the summary of what I roughly understood of the political context of the novel. I had to read about it, because in the novel the various incidents are just backdrops to which the characters react and they seem as incomprehensible to us as they are to them.
What we follow is the increasingly difficult environment that our protagonists, the narrator Harriet and her husband Guy, have to endure as the British presence in Romania not only weakens but also becomes seriously threatened by the ever-growing German presence, accompanied by a shift in empathies of the Romanian population. The environment becomes more and more hostile for our protagonists. As in the first volume of the trilogy, the reader continues to know better the personalities of the realist Harriet, always ready to look directly at danger, and the idealist and self-centered Guy, who skirts danger tucking it away in his mind. The reader also follows the tribulations of a marriage built by such opposed personalities, and will have to smile at Guy’s blind faith on the restorative power of the Soviet principle as well as on their unwillingness to impose imperialist ambitions - The Russians would not seize territory on which they had no claim.
The novel stops short of the Soviet invasion of 1944, and as the British colony of the novel leave Romania, the German nazis are everywhere in Bucharest. I am curious to see Guys' reaction as the political events continued to unfold.
There is a very interesting critique to the diplomatic policy of Britain, as expressed by one of Guy’s friends.
We lost this country months ago through a damn-fool policy of supporting Carol at no matter what cost to the rest of the community….. A united Romania – a Romania, that is, who’d won the loyalty of her minorities by treating them fairly … could have stood up to Russia. If she’d remained firm, Yugoslavia and Greece would have joined with her… A Balkan entente.
As the characters have literary inclinations, I also enjoyed the mentioning of Proust’s La recherche (which I am currently rereading), of Henry James (who is never far off in my horizon), of Conrad (whom I am also currently reading in the Short Story group), as well as DH Lawrence. This volume Olivia Manning dedicated to Ivy Compton- Burnett, whom I have read but would like to know better.
I will soon pick up the third volume of this Balkan trilogy.
March 15, 2021
Continuing on from The Great Fortune, The Spoilt City is set in 1940.
Guy and Harriet Pringle remain in Bucharest. Along with their colleagues they are finding their presence in the city growing ever more precarious. Every day life is changing and food is getting scarce.
Harriet feels frustration at Guy’s insistence at remaining at his position, especially as his ever depleting class at the university is reduced to a handful of summer students.
Invasion by the German army is an ever-present threat throughout the book.
The Spoilt City has a slower pace but still has most of the fabulous characters from the first book.
Looking forward to where the next book Friends and Heroes, takes Guy and Harriet.
Guy and Harriet Pringle remain in Bucharest. Along with their colleagues they are finding their presence in the city growing ever more precarious. Every day life is changing and food is getting scarce.
Harriet feels frustration at Guy’s insistence at remaining at his position, especially as his ever depleting class at the university is reduced to a handful of summer students.
Invasion by the German army is an ever-present threat throughout the book.
The Spoilt City has a slower pace but still has most of the fabulous characters from the first book.
Looking forward to where the next book Friends and Heroes, takes Guy and Harriet.
February 26, 2021
It's a strange experience to enjoy reading a book where I found pretty much all the characters unbearable in their mid-century British colonial superiority (of course none of them think that perhaps it might be helpful to learn something of Romanian language or culture while living there - no, no, no: they're there on behalf of the British Council, mostly, in order to bring a specifically English form of 'civilisation' to the country). They stick together in the English Bar and most of them barely meet or speak to a Romanian - other than their servants, housekeepers and cooks, as well as waiters and market venders.
What makes this interesting, however, is that the period is 1940 when Bucharest is in a state of political chaos with assassinations, the fascist Iron Guard parading in the streets, calls for abdication, and both Russia and Germany making territorial demands on the sidelines. As the book progresses, so does the Nazi presence - from the raising of a swastika flag to the sinister arrival of the Gestapo with their ominous list.
As Bucharest becomes 'spoilt' (though I was amused to find Harriet reminiscing about how sleek the city once was - from the first book, she spent most of her time moaning about the Romanians, the beggars, and everything else that wasn't English in an unEnglish city), so the gloss also comes off the new Pringle marriage. Guy buries his head in the sand (well, his books) and refuses to stop teaching his summer school despite there being only three students, while Harriet - who is becoming more mother than wife at times - frets about the state of his hair and clothes ('he had wine stains on his tie, his breakfast egg had dripped on to his lapel'), and wrings her hands over whether they will be able to escape before the Germans occupy the city.
It's especially the Pringles' characterisation and the dynamics of their unsatisfactory marriage that I enjoy: she is sensible and full of bourgeois values, even flirting lightly with approval of the fascist Iron Guard who she perceives as 'idealistic' and 'romantic' - yet when Guy refuses to engage with her questions or conversation, when she feels 'gagged' in the marriage as he patronisingly asserts his unthinking masculinity as head of the household, however little he actually fulfills that role, then it's hard not to sympathise with her plight. Equally, when we see Guy ponder on his fear of violence (he's even scared of Harriet losing her temper) or his genuine commitment to his own ideals of social justice (just a shame he can't see that the British Council is hardly neutral and that the very concept of spreading English culture is itself a pernicious form of colonialism), then I have warmer, if compromised, feelings for him. This is not, I'd say, a book to read if you need to like the characters.
What I find problematic is getting a handle on authorial intention (not that the book should, of course, be limited to that): there is material here that reminds me of Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy, but where Waugh is clear about the tragi-comic mix, Manning seems almost completely humourless. Some of her portraits are savagely amusing: Prof. Lord Pinkrose who turns up in the middle of an about-to-be-occupied city looking for caviar, good wine and pretty Romanian princesses, and expects the British Council to drum up an audience for a frigid-sounding lecture on the whole of English poetry from Chaucer to Tennyson in about an hour - but there are other places where I'm really not sure whether it is written 'straight' or not. For example, when the Pringles are packing up to leave, Guy determinedly tucks his copy of Shakespeare's Sonnets under his arm, as a clear amulet and shield of English culture against the barbarian hordes! I rolled my eyes - but was I supposed to get misty-eyed about the reminder of Shakespeare as a short-hand for English humaneness and Guy's own cultural sensitivity? Difficult to tell.
Despite having issues with the implied cultural politics of the characters, it's fascinating to see the historical material around Bucharest and I like that Manning doesn't write about the war with a 1960s sense of hindsight: there's a palpable sense of contingency and chaos in the narrative as the characters have to make decisions in a vacuum. I did wonder quite why so many young men (Guy himself is 24) are swanning around Europe rather than being in uniform - is working for the British Council a protected occupation?
So a not unproblematic read for me, and one which is essentially conservative, even reactionary, as it contemplates the decline of British power - but interesting for those very reasons.
Thanks to Random House/Cornerstone for an ARC via NetGalley
What makes this interesting, however, is that the period is 1940 when Bucharest is in a state of political chaos with assassinations, the fascist Iron Guard parading in the streets, calls for abdication, and both Russia and Germany making territorial demands on the sidelines. As the book progresses, so does the Nazi presence - from the raising of a swastika flag to the sinister arrival of the Gestapo with their ominous list.
As Bucharest becomes 'spoilt' (though I was amused to find Harriet reminiscing about how sleek the city once was - from the first book, she spent most of her time moaning about the Romanians, the beggars, and everything else that wasn't English in an unEnglish city), so the gloss also comes off the new Pringle marriage. Guy buries his head in the sand (well, his books) and refuses to stop teaching his summer school despite there being only three students, while Harriet - who is becoming more mother than wife at times - frets about the state of his hair and clothes ('he had wine stains on his tie, his breakfast egg had dripped on to his lapel'), and wrings her hands over whether they will be able to escape before the Germans occupy the city.
It's especially the Pringles' characterisation and the dynamics of their unsatisfactory marriage that I enjoy: she is sensible and full of bourgeois values, even flirting lightly with approval of the fascist Iron Guard who she perceives as 'idealistic' and 'romantic' - yet when Guy refuses to engage with her questions or conversation, when she feels 'gagged' in the marriage as he patronisingly asserts his unthinking masculinity as head of the household, however little he actually fulfills that role, then it's hard not to sympathise with her plight. Equally, when we see Guy ponder on his fear of violence (he's even scared of Harriet losing her temper) or his genuine commitment to his own ideals of social justice (just a shame he can't see that the British Council is hardly neutral and that the very concept of spreading English culture is itself a pernicious form of colonialism), then I have warmer, if compromised, feelings for him. This is not, I'd say, a book to read if you need to like the characters.
What I find problematic is getting a handle on authorial intention (not that the book should, of course, be limited to that): there is material here that reminds me of Waugh's Sword of Honour trilogy, but where Waugh is clear about the tragi-comic mix, Manning seems almost completely humourless. Some of her portraits are savagely amusing: Prof. Lord Pinkrose who turns up in the middle of an about-to-be-occupied city looking for caviar, good wine and pretty Romanian princesses, and expects the British Council to drum up an audience for a frigid-sounding lecture on the whole of English poetry from Chaucer to Tennyson in about an hour - but there are other places where I'm really not sure whether it is written 'straight' or not. For example, when the Pringles are packing up to leave, Guy determinedly tucks his copy of Shakespeare's Sonnets under his arm, as a clear amulet and shield of English culture against the barbarian hordes! I rolled my eyes - but was I supposed to get misty-eyed about the reminder of Shakespeare as a short-hand for English humaneness and Guy's own cultural sensitivity? Difficult to tell.
Despite having issues with the implied cultural politics of the characters, it's fascinating to see the historical material around Bucharest and I like that Manning doesn't write about the war with a 1960s sense of hindsight: there's a palpable sense of contingency and chaos in the narrative as the characters have to make decisions in a vacuum. I did wonder quite why so many young men (Guy himself is 24) are swanning around Europe rather than being in uniform - is working for the British Council a protected occupation?
So a not unproblematic read for me, and one which is essentially conservative, even reactionary, as it contemplates the decline of British power - but interesting for those very reasons.
Thanks to Random House/Cornerstone for an ARC via NetGalley
September 5, 2016
Having completed The Great Fortune, immediately followed by The Spoilt City, I am now off to the third of The Balkan Trilogy, that is to say Friends and Heroes. Once you start you simply cannot stop. This trilogy should be seen as one book. I have read a lot about WW2, but this book has engagingly filled me in on the fall of Romania to the Germans, which had been a gaping hole!
Maybe this is one of those books that should be listened to rather than read? The narration by Harriet Walter, the acclaimed English stage and screen actress, is topnotch. She does all three of the audiobooks that make up the trilogy. Her impersonations of French, Germans, Russians and Romanians I find superb. Both the men and women are well narrated. You can easily identify ho is speaking.
Except........reading the book in the paper format is probably captivating too. Manning's writing is special! I would even call it exceptional. Stunning depictions of places and people! I must point out, you don't read this book only for the history; you read it for its wonderful character portrayals.
I read a bit about the author. This trilogy has autobiographical content. Manning is in fact telling of her own life experiences! This is from the author's page at GR:
In August 1939 she married R.D. Smith ("Reggie"), a British Council lecturer posted in Bucharest, Romania, and subsequently in Greece, Egypt and Palestine as the Nazis over-ran Eastern Europe. Her experiences formed the basis for her best known work, the six novels making up "The Balkan Trilogy" and "The Levant Trilogy," known collectively as Fortunes of War.
No wonder this feels real. The story is based on real life. What she describes is what she saw, experienced and felt. She does this with talent. The story makes me wonder if the relationship between Harriet and Guy Pringle, the two newlyweds of the story, correctly reflects Olivia's own relationship with her husband Reggie?! There is a lot to think about here. Olivia /Harriet is astute in her observations and understanding of human behavior.
I don’t want to write more now. I have to get back to the story. I'll write a complete review of the trilogy on completion of the third book.
My review of the first book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Maybe this is one of those books that should be listened to rather than read? The narration by Harriet Walter, the acclaimed English stage and screen actress, is topnotch. She does all three of the audiobooks that make up the trilogy. Her impersonations of French, Germans, Russians and Romanians I find superb. Both the men and women are well narrated. You can easily identify ho is speaking.
Except........reading the book in the paper format is probably captivating too. Manning's writing is special! I would even call it exceptional. Stunning depictions of places and people! I must point out, you don't read this book only for the history; you read it for its wonderful character portrayals.
I read a bit about the author. This trilogy has autobiographical content. Manning is in fact telling of her own life experiences! This is from the author's page at GR:
In August 1939 she married R.D. Smith ("Reggie"), a British Council lecturer posted in Bucharest, Romania, and subsequently in Greece, Egypt and Palestine as the Nazis over-ran Eastern Europe. Her experiences formed the basis for her best known work, the six novels making up "The Balkan Trilogy" and "The Levant Trilogy," known collectively as Fortunes of War.
No wonder this feels real. The story is based on real life. What she describes is what she saw, experienced and felt. She does this with talent. The story makes me wonder if the relationship between Harriet and Guy Pringle, the two newlyweds of the story, correctly reflects Olivia's own relationship with her husband Reggie?! There is a lot to think about here. Olivia /Harriet is astute in her observations and understanding of human behavior.
I don’t want to write more now. I have to get back to the story. I'll write a complete review of the trilogy on completion of the third book.
My review of the first book: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
December 15, 2018
One thing staunchly autobiographical novels reveal is how unlike a novel individual lives are. Because if our lives have a plot it probably takes an entire lifetime to work out what it is! It's fascinating here to spot which characters Manning has elaborated to inscribe some narrative drive into the book. Obvious candidate is Prince Yakimov, probably a character she knew but to whom she imparts more agency than he probably had in real life. Even so, these books don't have a great deal of plot. They're more like studies of character under pressure. Few come out of this trial well, most notably the buffoon of a husband who I suspect might have filed for divorce after reading this novel.
A slightly irritating factor is these three books are not separate novels. You couldn't read the second without having read the first but Manning keeps inserting prosaic recaps for those who didn't read the first book. I gave the first instalment four stars so I'll give this one three because both merit 3.5 in my eyes.
A slightly irritating factor is these three books are not separate novels. You couldn't read the second without having read the first but Manning keeps inserting prosaic recaps for those who didn't read the first book. I gave the first instalment four stars so I'll give this one three because both merit 3.5 in my eyes.
February 11, 2015
This is the second volume in Olivia Manning’s Balkan Trilogy, following on from “The Great Fortune.” Harriet and Guy Pringle married shortly before the outbreak of WWII and are now in Bucharest, where Guy works in the English department of the University. The uncertainty surrounding Romania in the first novel is even more pronounced at the beginning of this book. Rumours and suspicions abound and the English are viewed as likely losers of the war. Harriet begins to long for safety, but Guy refuses to accept that he will have to leave and, to Harriet’s exasperation, throws himself wholeheartedly into organising the summer school at the University.
Many of the characters in the first book also appear here. Yakimov, always on his uppers and installed in the Pringle’s spare room, is disgruntled and depressed. When Guy and Harriet come across Sasha Drucker; the son of a wealthy Jewish businessman whose ruin is the talk of the city, the pair take him in too. Sasha has deserted from the army and Harriet is concerned that Yakimov will inform someone if he knows, so he has to stay in hiding. She is right to worry – Yakimov is concerned solely with his own well-being and is the least discreet person imaginable. When he goes to visit Cluj, he is so out of touch with events, that he imagines he can visit his old friend Fredi von Flugel; now a Nazi. His bravado and bragging may well have unpleasant repercussions for the very people who took him in when he had nowhere else to turn.
Meanwhile, revolution is in the air. As Bucharest experiences upheaval, martial law and shortages, the British await the arrival of Professor Pinkrose; invited by Guy’s boss, Inchcape, to – almost unbelievably - give a lecture. Harriet begins to despair that neither Guy, nor Inchcape, are prepared to accept the danger they could be in and have their heads firmly in the sand about current events. Bucharest now has a strong German presence, the Blitz has begun back home and getting to safety may soon be impossible. You really do feel for Harriet in this book – Guy is always so concerned with everyone else that he barely has time to consider how Harriet feels and she remains isolated and worried. Before the end of this volume, she has some difficult decisions to make about the future. The third book in the trilogy is “Friends and Heroes,” and I look forward to reading on to find out what happens to Harriet.
Many of the characters in the first book also appear here. Yakimov, always on his uppers and installed in the Pringle’s spare room, is disgruntled and depressed. When Guy and Harriet come across Sasha Drucker; the son of a wealthy Jewish businessman whose ruin is the talk of the city, the pair take him in too. Sasha has deserted from the army and Harriet is concerned that Yakimov will inform someone if he knows, so he has to stay in hiding. She is right to worry – Yakimov is concerned solely with his own well-being and is the least discreet person imaginable. When he goes to visit Cluj, he is so out of touch with events, that he imagines he can visit his old friend Fredi von Flugel; now a Nazi. His bravado and bragging may well have unpleasant repercussions for the very people who took him in when he had nowhere else to turn.
Meanwhile, revolution is in the air. As Bucharest experiences upheaval, martial law and shortages, the British await the arrival of Professor Pinkrose; invited by Guy’s boss, Inchcape, to – almost unbelievably - give a lecture. Harriet begins to despair that neither Guy, nor Inchcape, are prepared to accept the danger they could be in and have their heads firmly in the sand about current events. Bucharest now has a strong German presence, the Blitz has begun back home and getting to safety may soon be impossible. You really do feel for Harriet in this book – Guy is always so concerned with everyone else that he barely has time to consider how Harriet feels and she remains isolated and worried. Before the end of this volume, she has some difficult decisions to make about the future. The third book in the trilogy is “Friends and Heroes,” and I look forward to reading on to find out what happens to Harriet.
December 16, 2023
This 2nd volume of author Manning’s Balkan Trilogy continues the story of the young British couple Guy and Harriet Pringle in Bucharest at the beginning of WWI as they experience life as Allied country citizens in a country in the process of being consumed by the Nazis and other Axis nations. I love this 2nd book. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:
First, I love the setting. I really enjoy WWII movies that are not battle based but more political and social based. They can be just as tragic without battle deaths, such as the recent and brilliant Anne Frank story-based TV miniseries A Small Light and even the less brilliant TV miniseries of All the Light We Cannot See. Here, the setting is reminiscent of the classic Casablanca with much of the action taking place in bars, restaurants, offices and residences where British and other foreign citizens are facing the prospect of the Nazis arriving.
I find the setting quite alluring especially as I had no previous knowledge of Romania’s WWII experience. Prior to reading this, I could not have told you whether Romania was Allied or Axis during the war. Thus, everything that happens in this book is historically illuminating and when coupled with viewing the events through fictional characters I’ve grown attached to, it results in a story with incredible gravitas and emotional impact to me.
Second, I love the atmosphere. This book continues the atmosphere of the first book which I described as, journalists, diplomats British and local citizenry awaiting their fate while the Romanian government and people endure both internal and external political and military onslaught. The first volume ended with a level of tension and suspense that is only amplified and permeates this entire 2nd volume.
Third, I love the writing. It’s sufficiently descriptive without being overly so as to intrude on the story pacing. I am also finding Manning’s dialogue to be crisp and realistic.
Fourth, I love the characters. Perhaps, more accurately, I love the characterization. I may not like some of the side characters but I love how Manning has developed them, such as “Yaki” the non-Pringle character who gets more point-of-view chapters than Guy Pringle, who I think has one.
The book back cover blurb calls this ‘the story of a marriage.’ That may be, but it is a marriage story told from the point of view of the wife, Harriet. Her point of view and character dominate. She serves as the eye of the reader. I have come to like her, flaws and all, and identify with her and especially in her frustrations with her husband Guy, whose incredibly frustrating personality has not prevented my developing a fondness for him. When either Guy or Harriet frustrate me, I remind myself that they are just still so young, in their early 20s. I feel invested in the Pringles and their fate.
Based on the above, I rate this as 5 stars.
First, I love the setting. I really enjoy WWII movies that are not battle based but more political and social based. They can be just as tragic without battle deaths, such as the recent and brilliant Anne Frank story-based TV miniseries A Small Light and even the less brilliant TV miniseries of All the Light We Cannot See. Here, the setting is reminiscent of the classic Casablanca with much of the action taking place in bars, restaurants, offices and residences where British and other foreign citizens are facing the prospect of the Nazis arriving.
I find the setting quite alluring especially as I had no previous knowledge of Romania’s WWII experience. Prior to reading this, I could not have told you whether Romania was Allied or Axis during the war. Thus, everything that happens in this book is historically illuminating and when coupled with viewing the events through fictional characters I’ve grown attached to, it results in a story with incredible gravitas and emotional impact to me.
Second, I love the atmosphere. This book continues the atmosphere of the first book which I described as, journalists, diplomats British and local citizenry awaiting their fate while the Romanian government and people endure both internal and external political and military onslaught. The first volume ended with a level of tension and suspense that is only amplified and permeates this entire 2nd volume.
Third, I love the writing. It’s sufficiently descriptive without being overly so as to intrude on the story pacing. I am also finding Manning’s dialogue to be crisp and realistic.
Fourth, I love the characters. Perhaps, more accurately, I love the characterization. I may not like some of the side characters but I love how Manning has developed them, such as “Yaki” the non-Pringle character who gets more point-of-view chapters than Guy Pringle, who I think has one.
The book back cover blurb calls this ‘the story of a marriage.’ That may be, but it is a marriage story told from the point of view of the wife, Harriet. Her point of view and character dominate. She serves as the eye of the reader. I have come to like her, flaws and all, and identify with her and especially in her frustrations with her husband Guy, whose incredibly frustrating personality has not prevented my developing a fondness for him. When either Guy or Harriet frustrate me, I remind myself that they are just still so young, in their early 20s. I feel invested in the Pringles and their fate.
Based on the above, I rate this as 5 stars.
February 26, 2021
The Spoilt City follows on from the events in The Great Fortune; Paris has fallen and the ex-pat community in Bucharest are now in an increasingly precarious situation. Romania has to choose an ally, they feel let down by the British, the Russians are on one side, and the Nazi's on the other, there are calls for the pro-British king to abdicate and the Iron Guard are increasing their power base.
The Characters are becoming increasingly irritating in their refusal to see or believe what is actually happening, particularly 'poor old Yaki' who goes to visit his old friend Freddie, now a Nazi officer, and starts boasting about his (imagined) spy work! The Pringles marriage is coming under some strain as they are housing Yaki and a Jewish refugee, and Guy refused to think ahead of worry about any danger.
I must confess that before reading this, I knew next to nothing about Romania's role in WW2, and as this is based largely on Olivia Mannings own experiences there with her husband, it is a fascinating insight into what was happening and it was like to live through it, so a wonderful story, if only for that, though I do like it for much more than just the history.
*Many thanks to the published and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest opinion*
The Characters are becoming increasingly irritating in their refusal to see or believe what is actually happening, particularly 'poor old Yaki' who goes to visit his old friend Freddie, now a Nazi officer, and starts boasting about his (imagined) spy work! The Pringles marriage is coming under some strain as they are housing Yaki and a Jewish refugee, and Guy refused to think ahead of worry about any danger.
I must confess that before reading this, I knew next to nothing about Romania's role in WW2, and as this is based largely on Olivia Mannings own experiences there with her husband, it is a fascinating insight into what was happening and it was like to live through it, so a wonderful story, if only for that, though I do like it for much more than just the history.
*Many thanks to the published and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest opinion*
September 2, 2016
Afirm cu sinceritate că interesul meu pentru cărțile de război a crescut considerabil o dată cu parcurgerea celor două volume care fac parte din „Trilogia Balcanică” și care sunt dedicate atât luptei pentru supraviețuire, războiului, cât și dragostei și relațiilor dintre oameni.
Aceste file de poveste pline de învățăminte în care cititorul își poate descoperi propriul trecut și istoria care a marcat destinul tuturor oamenilor de pe acest pământ, fie ei români, englezi, americani, japonezi sau nemți; în fine, acel trecut glorios și pătat cu sângele a mii de oameni mai mult sau mai puțin vinovați, toate acele sacrificii făcute în numele dreptății și toate asupririle de care a avut parte poporul nostru, toate acestea ar trebui cunoscute de tinerii din ziua de azi, iar cel mai la îndemână mod prin care aceștia pot face o incursiune înapoi în timp și istorie îl reprezintă lecturarea cărților lăsate mărturie de către diverși scriitori care au trăit pe pielea lor schimbările și terorile aduse de război, scriitori precum Olivia Manning.
A doua carte a „Trilogiei Balcanice” cuprinde patru părți reprezentative prin titlurile lor (Cutremurul, Căpitanul, Revoluția, Raidul) care fac referire la cele mai importante momente descrise de-a lungul paginilor.
Volumul de față debutează cu frământările englezilor generate de decăderea marii puteri protectoare, Marea Britanie, noua țintă a germanilor și cu pierderea suferită de România care se vede forțată să renunțe la Basarabia și Bucovina, care sunt luate de Rusia, sacrificându-se astfel pentru a menține pacea în Europa de Est.
„După orele de încordare și incertitudine, acceptarea ultimatumului adusese nu numai dezamăgire, ci și ușurare. Însemna, pe lângă altele, că în București viața va continua ca până acum. Nimeni nu va fi obligat să moară pentru o cauză disperată.”
Recenzia completa o puteti citi aici: http://twistinmysobriety-alexa.blogsp...
Aceste file de poveste pline de învățăminte în care cititorul își poate descoperi propriul trecut și istoria care a marcat destinul tuturor oamenilor de pe acest pământ, fie ei români, englezi, americani, japonezi sau nemți; în fine, acel trecut glorios și pătat cu sângele a mii de oameni mai mult sau mai puțin vinovați, toate acele sacrificii făcute în numele dreptății și toate asupririle de care a avut parte poporul nostru, toate acestea ar trebui cunoscute de tinerii din ziua de azi, iar cel mai la îndemână mod prin care aceștia pot face o incursiune înapoi în timp și istorie îl reprezintă lecturarea cărților lăsate mărturie de către diverși scriitori care au trăit pe pielea lor schimbările și terorile aduse de război, scriitori precum Olivia Manning.
A doua carte a „Trilogiei Balcanice” cuprinde patru părți reprezentative prin titlurile lor (Cutremurul, Căpitanul, Revoluția, Raidul) care fac referire la cele mai importante momente descrise de-a lungul paginilor.
Volumul de față debutează cu frământările englezilor generate de decăderea marii puteri protectoare, Marea Britanie, noua țintă a germanilor și cu pierderea suferită de România care se vede forțată să renunțe la Basarabia și Bucovina, care sunt luate de Rusia, sacrificându-se astfel pentru a menține pacea în Europa de Est.
„După orele de încordare și incertitudine, acceptarea ultimatumului adusese nu numai dezamăgire, ci și ușurare. Însemna, pe lângă altele, că în București viața va continua ca până acum. Nimeni nu va fi obligat să moară pentru o cauză disperată.”
Recenzia completa o puteti citi aici: http://twistinmysobriety-alexa.blogsp...
October 17, 2023
Очень убедительный исторический роман о том как люди склонны до последнего сидеть в полыхающей комнате ждать и надеяться, что все как-то само утихнет, до тех пор пока им в прямом смысле не подпалит пятую точку
August 2, 2026
As I was reading and enjoying this book, I realized how few people I’d actually recommend it to. You have to be interested in a trilogy that is basically a thousand page novel, the geopolitics of Eastern Europe during World War II, and a close study of a dysfunctional marriage that is also a metaphor for the the contrast between traditional liberalism and Soviet style communism. I’m interested in all of those things, but I have admit it’s kind of niche.
The second installment of the trilogy focuses on Rumania (as it’s called in the book) turning toward fascism, which puts English couple Harriet and Guy Pringle on the alert that they may need to flee at a moment’s notice. The Pringles begin sheltering Sasha, a Jewish deserter from the Rumanian army. Harriet, who just wants someone who will accept her love, becomes attached to Sasha in much the same way she did with the red kitten in Book 1. She also begins to realize the extent to which Guy will never give or receive love in the way she needs. She longs for an individual bond that privileges their union above others, while Guy is outwardly focused, trying to give his personal resources equally to all and always moving on to the next hard luck case.
The novel is pretty unsparing in its depiction of both Guy and Harriet. Guy is presented as an idealist who believes (foolishly) that a rational socialist economy is the solution to all problems. Harriet is both more romantic and more selfish. She even admits to briefly feeling the pull of the fascist Iron Guard with its iconography and high-flown rhetoric, but her relationship with Sasha shatters any illusions.
I ended up moving straight on to Book 3 after this. There’s really no break in the story. In retrospect, I wish I had just waited and reviewed all three volumes together, since they are such a cohesive whole, and it’s now hard to remember where the line between each volume lies.
The second installment of the trilogy focuses on Rumania (as it’s called in the book) turning toward fascism, which puts English couple Harriet and Guy Pringle on the alert that they may need to flee at a moment’s notice. The Pringles begin sheltering Sasha, a Jewish deserter from the Rumanian army. Harriet, who just wants someone who will accept her love, becomes attached to Sasha in much the same way she did with the red kitten in Book 1. She also begins to realize the extent to which Guy will never give or receive love in the way she needs. She longs for an individual bond that privileges their union above others, while Guy is outwardly focused, trying to give his personal resources equally to all and always moving on to the next hard luck case.
The novel is pretty unsparing in its depiction of both Guy and Harriet. Guy is presented as an idealist who believes (foolishly) that a rational socialist economy is the solution to all problems. Harriet is both more romantic and more selfish. She even admits to briefly feeling the pull of the fascist Iron Guard with its iconography and high-flown rhetoric, but her relationship with Sasha shatters any illusions.
That was the reality, of course. "But why did the reality have to be that?" she said. The ideals had been fine enough. They had been formulated to combat a corrupt régime in which the idle, self-seeking and dishonest thrived. Why then, she wanted to know, must they degenerate into a reality of blackmail, persecution, and murder? Were human beings so fallible and self-seeking that degeneration was inevitable?
I ended up moving straight on to Book 3 after this. There’s really no break in the story. In retrospect, I wish I had just waited and reviewed all three volumes together, since they are such a cohesive whole, and it’s now hard to remember where the line between each volume lies.
December 11, 2023
Почему-то я думала, что будет по стране на каждую книжку, но нет, єто все еще Румыния, экспаты все еще сидят и чего-то дожидаются, ну и в итоге дожидаются.
Многим персонажам хочется дать по башке, и это показатель качества книги. Но с другой стороны - в отличие от героев Вука, тут я ни за кого особо не переживаю. Видимо, английский отстраненный подход не позволяет как следует кого-нибудь полюбить.
Многим персонажам хочется дать по башке, и это показатель качества книги. Но с другой стороны - в отличие от героев Вука, тут я ни за кого особо не переживаю. Видимо, английский отстраненный подход не позволяет как следует кого-нибудь полюбить.
November 9, 2020
Second in Olivia Manning's Balkan Trilogy, The Spoilt City picks up immediately after The Great Fortune, as the Pringles, Guy and Harriet, continue on in Romania as the threat of Germany and Russia lingers just over the border. The first novel ended as France capitulates to the Nazis, and The Spoilt City follows events as Romania, disassociating herself from former allies Britain and France, feels compelled to cozy up to Germany in an attempt to ward off aggression from her Balkan neighbors and the Soviet Union.
Both of these books have been pretty fascinating to me--for the historical context if nothing else. My knowledge of the events in this area immediately at the beginning of the war were slight, and Manning quite nicely weaves the cultural and political realities of the region which made Romania tip toward the Axis powers into her drama about this young married British couple and their circle of friends in the British community. The idea that the book is plainly autobiographical is actually a positive thing in this case.
It's the dramatic backdrop of this story that really makes the story pop. The personal drama of marriage and friendships is well done, and would even be strong enough to carry the narrative by itself, though it would have much less to recommend it.
Both of these books have been pretty fascinating to me--for the historical context if nothing else. My knowledge of the events in this area immediately at the beginning of the war were slight, and Manning quite nicely weaves the cultural and political realities of the region which made Romania tip toward the Axis powers into her drama about this young married British couple and their circle of friends in the British community. The idea that the book is plainly autobiographical is actually a positive thing in this case.
It's the dramatic backdrop of this story that really makes the story pop. The personal drama of marriage and friendships is well done, and would even be strong enough to carry the narrative by itself, though it would have much less to recommend it.
July 12, 2023
Вот как странно человек устроен: уже все ему сказало, что НАДО БЕЖАТЬ, а он такой: погожу
February 24, 2019
At times there's a lot more of the real history of Romania in the first year of WWII than there is of the characters in her book. I knew little of this time so I found it fascinating to see the reaction of the locals to the loss of territory, the change from an England/France support base to embracing Germany, the rise of fascism and the fall of the monarchy.
Back in the story, the ex-pat population is gradually dwindling as they are expelled or jump ship to the safer ports. There's a few attacks on the English community, good old Guy stoical stays, Harriet finally departs as the Germans are about to pounce. Throughout the book the greedy, loafer and sponger Yakimov somehow survives through sheer ignorance, stupidity and lying. He must be based on a real person as no one could make up such a character.
Back in the story, the ex-pat population is gradually dwindling as they are expelled or jump ship to the safer ports. There's a few attacks on the English community, good old Guy stoical stays, Harriet finally departs as the Germans are about to pounce. Throughout the book the greedy, loafer and sponger Yakimov somehow survives through sheer ignorance, stupidity and lying. He must be based on a real person as no one could make up such a character.
November 16, 2022
Book blurb: Bucharest, 1940. The city is on the brink of invasion and Guy and Harriet Pringle find their position growing ever more dangerous.
Read as part of a group read hosted by Sarah of Hardcover Hearts.
This second novel of the Balkan Trilogy follows right after the first, and really these three books should be though as one novel split into three. As with the The Great Fortune the writing is really good, and I appreciated learning about the fall of Romania to the Germans - not a par of WW2 history I know much about.
In this installment though, I found myself flying through the book as I was reading, and then having no compelling reason to pick it up again when I put it down. Expats have different options than locals, and it was interesting to see how these characters acted under the pressures of the time. The attitudes and prejudices of the day are in full display, and I kept forgetting how young Guy and Harriet are in this tale - early 20s.
I've read that this trilogy is rather autobiographical, and it comes through it the level of detail that Manning has on display. There's an adaptation that I'll add to the queue once I'm done with these books.
Read as part of a group read hosted by Sarah of Hardcover Hearts.
This second novel of the Balkan Trilogy follows right after the first, and really these three books should be though as one novel split into three. As with the The Great Fortune the writing is really good, and I appreciated learning about the fall of Romania to the Germans - not a par of WW2 history I know much about.
In this installment though, I found myself flying through the book as I was reading, and then having no compelling reason to pick it up again when I put it down. Expats have different options than locals, and it was interesting to see how these characters acted under the pressures of the time. The attitudes and prejudices of the day are in full display, and I kept forgetting how young Guy and Harriet are in this tale - early 20s.
I've read that this trilogy is rather autobiographical, and it comes through it the level of detail that Manning has on display. There's an adaptation that I'll add to the queue once I'm done with these books.
May 29, 2015
So this second book in the trilogy ends with Harriet in Athens and Guy left in Rumania to take care of business. There is no school and no department left to take care of, but Guy Pringle remains as obtuse as ever, choosing to ignore reality and pretend that things are normal. Harriet has come to some conclusions about marriage in general and hers in particular.
The Spoilt City takes us further into the German Occupation of Bucharest, and fleshes out some of the characters introduced in The Great Fortune. I'm growing very fond of Harriet, and Guy is growing on me (a little). Now on to the final book. I'm pretty sure I'll like Athens much better than Bucharest.
The Spoilt City takes us further into the German Occupation of Bucharest, and fleshes out some of the characters introduced in The Great Fortune. I'm growing very fond of Harriet, and Guy is growing on me (a little). Now on to the final book. I'm pretty sure I'll like Athens much better than Bucharest.
June 9, 2020
A few weeks ago, I posted a couple of pieces on The Great Fortune, the first book in Olivia Manning’s largely autobiographical series of novels, The Balkan Trilogy.
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
It’s a tremendous series, well worth reading.
Essentially, the books provide a detailed a portrait of a marriage, albeit one unfolding against the looming threat of war – the setting for book 1 is Bucharest from the autumn to 1939 to the summer of 1940, a time of heightened uncertainty. Newlyweds Guy and Harriet Pringle are based on Olivia Manning and her husband, R. D. Smith, a British Council lecturer posted in Bucharest – a point that gives the novels their strong sense of authenticity.
In this piece, I’m focusing on the second volume in the trilogy, The Spoilt City, which follows straight on from Fortune. But rather than delving too far into the plot, I’m going to highlight some of the other elements instead – particularly the cultural ‘feel’/sense of place and the Pringles’ relationship.
As the leaders advanced, lifting their boots and swinging their arms, Harriet saw they were the same young men she had observed in the spring, exiles returned from training in the German concentration camps. Then, shabby and ostracised, they had hung unoccupied about the street corners. Now they were marching on the crown of the road, forcing the traffic into the kerb, filling the air with their anthem, giving an impression of aggressive confidence. (p.335)
With the Germans inching closer to Romania, Bucharest is becoming an increasingly tense environment for the Pringles and other members of the British establishment. As in The Great Fortune, Manning does a brilliant job in contrasting the shimmering beauty of summer in the city with the stark reality of the threats on the streets. Romania’s fascist movement, the Iron Guard (or Guardists as they were commonly known) are now a visible presence, much strengthened by their recent training at the German camps.
Once again, this book conveys a vivid impression of life in Romania during the period in question. At one point in the narrative, Yaki travels from Bucharest to Cluj, on a fact-finding mission in return for a sizeable payment. The scene that greets him at the city’s railway station is busy and chaotic, building to a crescendo as the express train is due to pull in.
To read the rest of my piece, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
It’s a tremendous series, well worth reading.
Essentially, the books provide a detailed a portrait of a marriage, albeit one unfolding against the looming threat of war – the setting for book 1 is Bucharest from the autumn to 1939 to the summer of 1940, a time of heightened uncertainty. Newlyweds Guy and Harriet Pringle are based on Olivia Manning and her husband, R. D. Smith, a British Council lecturer posted in Bucharest – a point that gives the novels their strong sense of authenticity.
In this piece, I’m focusing on the second volume in the trilogy, The Spoilt City, which follows straight on from Fortune. But rather than delving too far into the plot, I’m going to highlight some of the other elements instead – particularly the cultural ‘feel’/sense of place and the Pringles’ relationship.
As the leaders advanced, lifting their boots and swinging their arms, Harriet saw they were the same young men she had observed in the spring, exiles returned from training in the German concentration camps. Then, shabby and ostracised, they had hung unoccupied about the street corners. Now they were marching on the crown of the road, forcing the traffic into the kerb, filling the air with their anthem, giving an impression of aggressive confidence. (p.335)
With the Germans inching closer to Romania, Bucharest is becoming an increasingly tense environment for the Pringles and other members of the British establishment. As in The Great Fortune, Manning does a brilliant job in contrasting the shimmering beauty of summer in the city with the stark reality of the threats on the streets. Romania’s fascist movement, the Iron Guard (or Guardists as they were commonly known) are now a visible presence, much strengthened by their recent training at the German camps.
Once again, this book conveys a vivid impression of life in Romania during the period in question. At one point in the narrative, Yaki travels from Bucharest to Cluj, on a fact-finding mission in return for a sizeable payment. The scene that greets him at the city’s railway station is busy and chaotic, building to a crescendo as the express train is due to pull in.
To read the rest of my piece, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2020...
April 12, 2017
In The Spoilt City; Olivia Manning continues the story of Guy and Harriet Pringle, Yakimov, Inchcape, Clarence Lawson and co that she began in The Great Fortune. Picking up where the previous novel ended, the city of Bucharest is increasingly a city beset with uncertainty – the so called phoney war is over, and German invasion seems a greater possibility than ever. Olivia Manning writes beautifully about the city of Bucharest in the summer of 1940.
“As the sunset threw its reds and purples across the sky, the waiting crowds grew restless. Time was passing. Those in the square had been mostly men of the working classes. With evening, women appeared, their light clothes glimmering in the twilight. The first breath of cool air brought the prosperous Rumanians out for the promenade. Though they walked from habit into the Calea Victoriei and the Boulevard Carol, they were drawn back again and again to the square, the centre of tension.
When Guy returned from the University, Harriet said they must eat quickly, then go out and discover what was happening.”
The position of English people appears to be more precarious than it was – and as some people begin to leave the Pringles stay on. Guy is determined to hang on to his job in the English department at the university – insisting he must wait to be reassigned and can’t just abandon his post. Harriet is more concerned about their position, and watches Guy holding on to a job that is daily becoming less and less required, with frustration. Guy’s students are dwindling in number and Harriet isn’t convinced, that the summer school, Guy is planning is a very good idea.
https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...
“As the sunset threw its reds and purples across the sky, the waiting crowds grew restless. Time was passing. Those in the square had been mostly men of the working classes. With evening, women appeared, their light clothes glimmering in the twilight. The first breath of cool air brought the prosperous Rumanians out for the promenade. Though they walked from habit into the Calea Victoriei and the Boulevard Carol, they were drawn back again and again to the square, the centre of tension.
When Guy returned from the University, Harriet said they must eat quickly, then go out and discover what was happening.”
The position of English people appears to be more precarious than it was – and as some people begin to leave the Pringles stay on. Guy is determined to hang on to his job in the English department at the university – insisting he must wait to be reassigned and can’t just abandon his post. Harriet is more concerned about their position, and watches Guy holding on to a job that is daily becoming less and less required, with frustration. Guy’s students are dwindling in number and Harriet isn’t convinced, that the summer school, Guy is planning is a very good idea.
https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/...
May 30, 2022
Tengo debilidad por las novelas cuyo trasfondo es la élite diplomática inglesa, y si es fuera del Reino Unido, en países exóticos para los cánones occidentales aún mejor. Esta segunda parte de la Trilogía de los Balcanes cumple con todo lo anterior. Olivia Manning retoma la historia del matrimonio Pringle en el punto exacto en el que se quedó en el primer tomo y narrando las experiencias vitales tanto de Guy como de Harriet, dos jóvenes de personalidades casi opuestas, nos cuenta los eventos políticos de Rumanía durante 1940, en plena IIGM y cuando los nazis juegan al ajedrez con media Europa y su expansión es imparable arrinconando todo el continente y obligando a los ingleses, únicos resistentes a la invasión del Eje, a aguantar contra viento y marea todo lo que puedan allá donde estén.
Esta es una novela sosegada, donde las pasiones y orgullos protagonizan las relaciones de los protagonistas entre sí. Es curioso el estoicismo de Guy y la resignación de Harriet ante un matrimonio que podría parecer disfuncional pero que, leyendo novelas parecidas, era la tónica en ciertos estratos sociales ingleses donde clasismo e idealismo social se daban la mano. La ambientación en una Bucarest donde empiezan a sonar tambores de guerra y donde la plácida tranquilidad empieza a turbarse por el odio nazi es soberbia y tanto la pareja Pringle, como el resto de personajes prototípicos ingleses magníficos. Es una delicia leer a Manning; pronto me pondré con el cierre de la trilogía.
https://leyendolavidaenpapel.blogspot...
Esta es una novela sosegada, donde las pasiones y orgullos protagonizan las relaciones de los protagonistas entre sí. Es curioso el estoicismo de Guy y la resignación de Harriet ante un matrimonio que podría parecer disfuncional pero que, leyendo novelas parecidas, era la tónica en ciertos estratos sociales ingleses donde clasismo e idealismo social se daban la mano. La ambientación en una Bucarest donde empiezan a sonar tambores de guerra y donde la plácida tranquilidad empieza a turbarse por el odio nazi es soberbia y tanto la pareja Pringle, como el resto de personajes prototípicos ingleses magníficos. Es una delicia leer a Manning; pronto me pondré con el cierre de la trilogía.
https://leyendolavidaenpapel.blogspot...
December 19, 2025
I began Olivia Manning’s Balkan Trilogy this year after re-reading Clive James’s Latest Readings, in which James praises her Balkan and Levant trilogies. (I also read Edward St. Aubyn’s Patrick series this year based on James’s comments about it). Critics like James have a symbiotic relation to my reading at times. Far from being anti-critic and trying to keep critic and poet apart lest the critic wilt the poet, I have since at least college had an appreciative place in my reading for critics, but only ones I trust. I have read deeply into Lionel Trilling’s corpus, for example, (though I might add that I tend to think criticism has gone downhill after Trilling and I avoid the anti-humanist groupings into Marxist literary theory, feminist, etc., as general betrayals of literary humanism’s aims as I understand them). I find T.S. Eliot’s take on this matter inexorably logical: “…we might remind ourselves that criticism is as inevitable as breathing, and that we should be none the worse for articulating what passes in our minds when we read a book and feel an emotion about it, for criticizing our own minds in their work of criticism.” But James’s own view of the critic is pretty anodyne: “The critics should write to say, not ‘look how much I’ve read,’ but ‘look at this, it’s wonderful.’” Which brings me back to my subject.
Having just finished the second book in the trilogy, I have enjoyed Olivia Manning’s vivacious wit expressed especially through the character of Harriet, and her keen portrayal of the English and their friends in Romania in a setting which starts with distant rumor of the Nazis advance, beginning in Volume 1, The Great Fortune, eventually whelming to their full occupation by end of this volume, and the consequent ending of the British legation and colony there. She brings to life in a masterly portrayal this period of time and so does a service to our memory as well as tapping the wells of perennial humanity, reminding us of ourselves in our contingency, making us wonder how we would respond under the encroaching threat.
The story unfolds through the personal relations in a way that brings the period to life. James says Manning’s work has been undervalued. I certainly have come to value her work with this exposure- but let actions tell.
The marriage of Harriet and Guy as well as the political and social reality of the Nazi take over are major hubs of the story as told through the eyes mainly of Harriet. There seems to be a building ominousness to the future of their marriage as well as their existence in Romania. Guy is well-liked for his idealism and courage as a teacher. He is a Communist and thinks wistfully of the possibility of Romania being taken over by Communist Russia. He is spooked by seeing his wife and a friend attend a Russian Orthodox service, even though it is just as a cultural curiosity to them. He does not seem to have sufficient special time for his wife, but is available at all hours to public. For anti-Communists like myself, it is good for probity and good sense, no doubt, to see the sympathetic portrayal of one as a likeable human after all, despite Harriet’s personal misgivings about their marriage.
James nicely encapsuled their relationship when he describes Guy Pringle as “the type so enslaved to his haversack full of books that he would always get the actual world wrong” and Harriet Pringle as embodying “the unused qualities of sensitivity and practicality that continually underlined just why she shouldn’t be married to Guy…he a case of useless intelligence, she a case of wasted love.”
For someone who suffered under both the Nazis and then the Soviets, see for instance the writings of the great Czech dissident Ivan Klima, who died this year while I was reading a collection of his essays, or Vaclav Havel for that matter. I was first introduced to Romania when young through reading some of the writings of the convert to Christianity from being a secular Romanian Jew, the great Lutheran pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who suffered torture and imprisonment for his bold witness to Christ under both the Nazi and Communist regimes. His most famous book was Tortured for Christ and he founded the organization called Voice of the Martyrs. He famously testified before the U.S. Congress by baring his back to show the scars from the depredations of the Communists, in a scene reminiscent of the Apostle Paul’s memory bearing scars, or their Lord’s scars. One of the stories he tells is how one of his torturers was converted to faith in Christ and refused to torture any more, and how he was beaten to death with peace in his heart as a consequence. Great lights like Wurmbrand should not be forgotten, even perhaps more so than the great literary and political dissidents.
When I read the following this morning from an article by one of the great intellects of our age, I thought it captured well some of the service Olivia Manning has done the world, or whoever will take up and read her books, namely in its mention of spirit and vitality, memory and loving gratitude, traits which animate Manning’s writings:
“It the spiritual crisis of our age is an increasingly spiritless world, then the ‘order’ one must seek is an order that treasures and cultivates the things of the spirit: memory, the ability to hold past, present, and future in unity and thus to have and inhabit a history; and gratitude, the profound recognition that we do not cause our own existence and that a history is therefore not an obstacle to be surpassed but a gift and an unrepayable debt. All of these things are the ingredients in the act of love and in the supreme act of love that is prayer.” -Michael Hanby, “Sage Against the Machine,” First Things, November 2025, pg. 51
Having just finished the second book in the trilogy, I have enjoyed Olivia Manning’s vivacious wit expressed especially through the character of Harriet, and her keen portrayal of the English and their friends in Romania in a setting which starts with distant rumor of the Nazis advance, beginning in Volume 1, The Great Fortune, eventually whelming to their full occupation by end of this volume, and the consequent ending of the British legation and colony there. She brings to life in a masterly portrayal this period of time and so does a service to our memory as well as tapping the wells of perennial humanity, reminding us of ourselves in our contingency, making us wonder how we would respond under the encroaching threat.
The story unfolds through the personal relations in a way that brings the period to life. James says Manning’s work has been undervalued. I certainly have come to value her work with this exposure- but let actions tell.
The marriage of Harriet and Guy as well as the political and social reality of the Nazi take over are major hubs of the story as told through the eyes mainly of Harriet. There seems to be a building ominousness to the future of their marriage as well as their existence in Romania. Guy is well-liked for his idealism and courage as a teacher. He is a Communist and thinks wistfully of the possibility of Romania being taken over by Communist Russia. He is spooked by seeing his wife and a friend attend a Russian Orthodox service, even though it is just as a cultural curiosity to them. He does not seem to have sufficient special time for his wife, but is available at all hours to public. For anti-Communists like myself, it is good for probity and good sense, no doubt, to see the sympathetic portrayal of one as a likeable human after all, despite Harriet’s personal misgivings about their marriage.
James nicely encapsuled their relationship when he describes Guy Pringle as “the type so enslaved to his haversack full of books that he would always get the actual world wrong” and Harriet Pringle as embodying “the unused qualities of sensitivity and practicality that continually underlined just why she shouldn’t be married to Guy…he a case of useless intelligence, she a case of wasted love.”
For someone who suffered under both the Nazis and then the Soviets, see for instance the writings of the great Czech dissident Ivan Klima, who died this year while I was reading a collection of his essays, or Vaclav Havel for that matter. I was first introduced to Romania when young through reading some of the writings of the convert to Christianity from being a secular Romanian Jew, the great Lutheran pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who suffered torture and imprisonment for his bold witness to Christ under both the Nazi and Communist regimes. His most famous book was Tortured for Christ and he founded the organization called Voice of the Martyrs. He famously testified before the U.S. Congress by baring his back to show the scars from the depredations of the Communists, in a scene reminiscent of the Apostle Paul’s memory bearing scars, or their Lord’s scars. One of the stories he tells is how one of his torturers was converted to faith in Christ and refused to torture any more, and how he was beaten to death with peace in his heart as a consequence. Great lights like Wurmbrand should not be forgotten, even perhaps more so than the great literary and political dissidents.
When I read the following this morning from an article by one of the great intellects of our age, I thought it captured well some of the service Olivia Manning has done the world, or whoever will take up and read her books, namely in its mention of spirit and vitality, memory and loving gratitude, traits which animate Manning’s writings:
“It the spiritual crisis of our age is an increasingly spiritless world, then the ‘order’ one must seek is an order that treasures and cultivates the things of the spirit: memory, the ability to hold past, present, and future in unity and thus to have and inhabit a history; and gratitude, the profound recognition that we do not cause our own existence and that a history is therefore not an obstacle to be surpassed but a gift and an unrepayable debt. All of these things are the ingredients in the act of love and in the supreme act of love that is prayer.” -Michael Hanby, “Sage Against the Machine,” First Things, November 2025, pg. 51
May 20, 2021
When we last saw Harriet and Guy, two of the least passionate newly married twentysomethings in literature, they were a snug part of the emigre community in Bucharest Romania. Guy had just put on an amateur play that was a big success and Paris had just fallen to the Nazis.
This book — probably the best of the trilogy — shows the slow motion collapse of the English community in Romania through the summer and fall of 1940. Guy continues to teach in the English school that employs him but enrollment dwindles. The King falls and is replaced by a pro-Nazi regime. The favorite bars of the local English are effectively taken over by the Nazis, leaving our heroes with a diminished social life.
Meanwhile, Guy continues to aggravate his wife by being just so...aggravating. He adopts people like stray pets, and brings them into the flat to live. So Harriet is stuck with the appalling Prince Yakimov, a leech who defines futile uselessness and young Sasha, who is an army deserter and a member of a rich Jewish family. (He’s pretty useless too, but Harriet treats him like a kid brother)
While the bare plot description does not seem exciting, evil keeps closing in on the English community. People associated with ether embassy are killed. Police are harassing other members. And Prince Yakimov, of all people, gets an unusually intense series of chapters where he stares fully into the Nazi abyss and...ok, no spoilers. To my mind, this part of the book is by far the best in the trilogy. It is so different in tone, though, that I wonder if the people who rave about this series actively dislike it.
Alas, after Yaki is done confronting evil, this book goes back to the day to day drudgery of being Guy and Harriet and vaguely dissatisfied while the world goes to pot, and colleagues die or get beat up or become really scared. While the possible fate of Sasha hiding in the attic gives this part of novel some needed tension, there seems to be a determination to prove that boring people can be boring anywhere, any time. Fortunately, events are driving to a climax and the book remains quite readable until the cheesy cliffhanger at the end.
This book — probably the best of the trilogy — shows the slow motion collapse of the English community in Romania through the summer and fall of 1940. Guy continues to teach in the English school that employs him but enrollment dwindles. The King falls and is replaced by a pro-Nazi regime. The favorite bars of the local English are effectively taken over by the Nazis, leaving our heroes with a diminished social life.
Meanwhile, Guy continues to aggravate his wife by being just so...aggravating. He adopts people like stray pets, and brings them into the flat to live. So Harriet is stuck with the appalling Prince Yakimov, a leech who defines futile uselessness and young Sasha, who is an army deserter and a member of a rich Jewish family. (He’s pretty useless too, but Harriet treats him like a kid brother)
While the bare plot description does not seem exciting, evil keeps closing in on the English community. People associated with ether embassy are killed. Police are harassing other members. And Prince Yakimov, of all people, gets an unusually intense series of chapters where he stares fully into the Nazi abyss and...ok, no spoilers. To my mind, this part of the book is by far the best in the trilogy. It is so different in tone, though, that I wonder if the people who rave about this series actively dislike it.
Alas, after Yaki is done confronting evil, this book goes back to the day to day drudgery of being Guy and Harriet and vaguely dissatisfied while the world goes to pot, and colleagues die or get beat up or become really scared. While the possible fate of Sasha hiding in the attic gives this part of novel some needed tension, there seems to be a determination to prove that boring people can be boring anywhere, any time. Fortunately, events are driving to a climax and the book remains quite readable until the cheesy cliffhanger at the end.
April 25, 2022
THE SPOILT CITY does a terrific job ratcheting up tension, conveying the sense of citizens disappearing from the fringes as Harriet's alarm grows. We slowly notice that the number of Guy's students dwindles every time there's a casual reference, and some of the characters we met in THE GREAT FORTUNE are even tortured and murdered.
As much as I enjoyed THE GREAT FORTUNE I found this a more satisfying read that built more steadily to its unbearable climax, probably because we are more focused on Harriet. Her dawning recognition of the privilege insulating those around her, as well as her own attitudes, feels realistic and rewarding rather than pandering. For example she compares her guilty reaction to beggars against her compassion for pets. The first book was overflowing with sharing abundant fruit and flowering lime branches, but THE SPOILT CITY is soaked in resentment and rancid-sounding alcohol (Tuica - some sort of prune juice liqueur??). Near the end we learn the restaurants are serving literally spoiled food.
There are some very funny moments: prissy professor Pinkrose arrives prepared to stop WWII. He will accomplish this by delivering a powerful lecture about the history of poetry! And of course Yakimov's bumbling is entertaining even when he is carrying everyone to the brink of true disaster.
This volume did end on a cliffhanger, but it still contained a well-defined arc and stands alone enough. (Doesn't actually matter to me as I can't wait to read more from this author, starting with book three!) Finally, I would like to commend audible for making accessible this brilliant reading from Harriet Walter. Marvelous.
As much as I enjoyed THE GREAT FORTUNE I found this a more satisfying read that built more steadily to its unbearable climax, probably because we are more focused on Harriet. Her dawning recognition of the privilege insulating those around her, as well as her own attitudes, feels realistic and rewarding rather than pandering. For example she compares her guilty reaction to beggars against her compassion for pets. The first book was overflowing with sharing abundant fruit and flowering lime branches, but THE SPOILT CITY is soaked in resentment and rancid-sounding alcohol (Tuica - some sort of prune juice liqueur??). Near the end we learn the restaurants are serving literally spoiled food.
There are some very funny moments: prissy professor Pinkrose arrives prepared to stop WWII. He will accomplish this by delivering a powerful lecture about the history of poetry! And of course Yakimov's bumbling is entertaining even when he is carrying everyone to the brink of true disaster.
This volume did end on a cliffhanger, but it still contained a well-defined arc and stands alone enough. (Doesn't actually matter to me as I can't wait to read more from this author, starting with book three!) Finally, I would like to commend audible for making accessible this brilliant reading from Harriet Walter. Marvelous.
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July 28, 2023Again, I think the insight into conditions in occupied Europe c. 1939-40 is a good one; that perspective of the war rarely gets told. But I still find it tough to really sympathize with anyone. In part, I think, that is because, despite Guy Pringle's status as committed left-wing social activist, most of the characters, Pringle included, almost never stop "being British, don't you know, that jolly old superiority complex thingy by dint of which we are entitled to better treatment than we are receiving from just about all these beastly natives," etc. The social infighting and obsession over status is, quite likely, wonderfully drawn into the fiction, but not especially attractive no matter how well presented. At one point, a character exclaims "I can't bear this place. The peasants are loathsome. I hate them." Though Socialist Guy tries to explain that there are forces of desperation underlying cruelty and stupidity, it seems that his words are focused solely on "the peasants" and not on the also cruel and stupid 'superior' Europeans.
January 7, 2024
Volumul 2 al Trilogiei balcanice descrie contextul social, politic si istoric din Bucuresti si din Romania in timpul celui de-al doilea razboi mondial, asa cum l-a perceput Olivia Manning aka Harriet Pringle: abdicarea regelui Carol, revoltele, legionarii, aliantele care apareau si dispareau. Societatea britanica din Bucuresti incepea sa dispara, fie pentru ca englezii fugeau din tara, fie ca erau ucisi. Razboiul este in desfasurare, societatea engleza din Bucuresti incepe sa se destrame. Legionarii bat strazile si instiga la revolta.
In Harriet incoteste samanta tradarii fata de Guy care isi imprastie devotamentul catre toata lumea in egala masura si nu are nimic special pentru sotia sa. Aceasta samanta ramane insa nerodita si cand lucrurile derapeaza serios, Harriet se lasa convinsa sa paraseasca Bucurestiul si sa plece fara Guy la Athena, unde il va astepta.
In Harriet incoteste samanta tradarii fata de Guy care isi imprastie devotamentul catre toata lumea in egala masura si nu are nimic special pentru sotia sa. Aceasta samanta ramane insa nerodita si cand lucrurile derapeaza serios, Harriet se lasa convinsa sa paraseasca Bucurestiul si sa plece fara Guy la Athena, unde il va astepta.
February 6, 2025
The Spoilt City is the second book in The Balkan Trilogy and pretty much picks up where the first book left off. Guy and Harriet Pringle are still in Bucharest. It is 1940 but things are beginning to really heat up in the city, with the Germans imminent invasion. Everything is much more intense with the Nazis arriving and food shortages have begun. I am beginning to warm up more toward Harriet but Guy still gets on my nerves with his ridiculous and reckless devotion to his job. Yaki is...well, Yaki but he does keep things interesting. I liked this one a bit more than the first, due to all the mounting tension. Manning still does an excellent job in her portrayal of a city under threat. Looking forward to Friends and Heroes.
January 22, 2026
Really liking this series so far, and very much enjoying learning about the unique struggles of Eastern Europe during WW2, a subject that is often overshadowed by the war’s “bigger players” in Western Europe and the US. It is easy to forget how smaller countries and their resources were taken advantage of during this period of history and how their citizens suffered for it. I think this is an important thing for readers of history to reflect on.
Olivia Manning does a fantastic job of honestly and fairly portraying both the endearing and (many) insufferable qualities of her characters - it is often hard for me to “take sides” when there is interpersonal conflict, as the author does not shy away from displaying the shortcomings of even the most main characters that an audience would tend to default to root for.
My one complaint is that these stories are told with a very emotionally detached feeling. Some of the more horrific descriptions of extreme poverty, the discrimination of Jewish individuals, etc. do not elicit any sort of emotional dialogue or actions from the characters (or even from the narrator). It is sometimes hard to tell if Manning is making a point about the characters being so accustomed to society’s injustices that they just don’t have a response to it anymore, or if it is, at times, less-than-stellar writing.
Olivia Manning does a fantastic job of honestly and fairly portraying both the endearing and (many) insufferable qualities of her characters - it is often hard for me to “take sides” when there is interpersonal conflict, as the author does not shy away from displaying the shortcomings of even the most main characters that an audience would tend to default to root for.
My one complaint is that these stories are told with a very emotionally detached feeling. Some of the more horrific descriptions of extreme poverty, the discrimination of Jewish individuals, etc. do not elicit any sort of emotional dialogue or actions from the characters (or even from the narrator). It is sometimes hard to tell if Manning is making a point about the characters being so accustomed to society’s injustices that they just don’t have a response to it anymore, or if it is, at times, less-than-stellar writing.
December 14, 2020
The second volume in the Balkan Trilogy, as gorgeously written and detailed as the first volume. Here, we are still in Bucharest, where the political fortunes of the Romanians, and the English in residence there, including Harriet and Guy Pringle, are changing. The English have failed, and rather than siding with the peasants, they kept the despotic King in power, and now the Germans are marching in. Harriet, who sees the world differently than Guy, has become aware that their marriage is not all that she hoped. The cast of characters are eccentric and fascinating, as is this bird's eye view of what being in a country under assault is like.
August 14, 2023
The Spoilt City is Book 2 of the Balkan Trilogy. I've really enjoyed this book but by now I have to say that most of the characters are very difficult to like (in their mid-century British colonial superiority). They stick together in the English Bar as true ex-pats do - they rarely meet or speak to any Romanians - other than their servants, housekeepers and cooks, as well as waiters and market venders. They certainly don't bother to learn any Romanian!
What makes this book so interesting for me is the historical material around Bucharest in WW2 (of which I knew nothing before starting this trilogy). Bucharest is in a state of political chaos, the rising of the fascist Iron Guard, abdication of the King, and both Russia and Germany making territorial demands on the sidelines. As the book goes on, so does the Nazi presence. This keeps the suspense up. Looking forward to book 3 now.
What makes this book so interesting for me is the historical material around Bucharest in WW2 (of which I knew nothing before starting this trilogy). Bucharest is in a state of political chaos, the rising of the fascist Iron Guard, abdication of the King, and both Russia and Germany making territorial demands on the sidelines. As the book goes on, so does the Nazi presence. This keeps the suspense up. Looking forward to book 3 now.
September 25, 2017
Second book in the Balkan Trilogy - as intriguing and interesting as the first installment. Manning's characters are so maddening and human in the face of WWII. Of course, they don't know what's coming like the reader does, but their blithe, confident obliviousness is a little too close to home for me some days.
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