What do you think?
Rate this book
The Willow Cabin
'He came over to the chair, pulled her out of it and stood holding her hands. 'If I were really grown-up now, I should say good-bye to you and walk out of your life. And yet I cannot bear to go.' Caroline is twenty-two, gamine and vociferous, neither daunted nor impressed by the prospect of a promising stage career. Then she meets Michael Knowles, a successful middle-aged surgeon, and her career slips into second place beside brief meetings, midnight trysts and the welcome anonymity of foreign cities, as they seek to evade the shadow of Mercedes, Michael's estranged wife. London of the 1930s gives way to the Blitz and the pain of separation, but the intensity of wartime does nothing to deflect Caroline's obsession with the three-cornered relationship. In America, some years later, she meets Mercedes for the first time. Discovering an unexpected bond with her, Caroline begins to comprehend her own misinterpretation of the past.
410 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1949
8 people are currently reading
120 people want to read
About the author
Pamela Frankau
51 books9 followersPopular British novelist. Her father was novelist Gilbert Frankau, her mother satirist Julia Davis, and her uncle British radio comedian, Ronald Frankau.
Her writing success came when she was only twenty, with The Marriage of Harlequin (1927). A relationship with the married Humbert Wolfe ended only with his death in 1940. She then ceased to write for a long period.
During the Second World War, she worked for the BBC, the Ministry of Food, and the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
First published in 1954, A Wreath for the Enemy is perhaps her best loved novel and still in print on both sides of the Atlantic. In the novel the events of one night transform what appears at first to be a typical adolescent crisis into a prolonged struggle for self-definition on the part of the novel's teenage protagonist. In part autobiographical, Frankau clearly identified with her lead character who is presented as a writer in development.
Frankau became a Roman Catholic convert in 1942, and spent much time in the United States. She was married there, though only for a few years. She returned to England in 1953. A long lesbian relationship with the theatre director Margaret Webster began in the 1950s.
Her writing success came when she was only twenty, with The Marriage of Harlequin (1927). A relationship with the married Humbert Wolfe ended only with his death in 1940. She then ceased to write for a long period.
During the Second World War, she worked for the BBC, the Ministry of Food, and the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
First published in 1954, A Wreath for the Enemy is perhaps her best loved novel and still in print on both sides of the Atlantic. In the novel the events of one night transform what appears at first to be a typical adolescent crisis into a prolonged struggle for self-definition on the part of the novel's teenage protagonist. In part autobiographical, Frankau clearly identified with her lead character who is presented as a writer in development.
Frankau became a Roman Catholic convert in 1942, and spent much time in the United States. She was married there, though only for a few years. She returned to England in 1953. A long lesbian relationship with the theatre director Margaret Webster began in the 1950s.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 10, 2022
Dear me. This is the second Virago Modern Classics re-issue I have read in a row of which I was not keen on the book. 🙁 Normally I’m pleased as punch with the re-issues. Oh well, of the over 700 re-issues they have, they can’t all be winners now, can they? 🧐
And I liked the other work I read by Pamela Frankau well enough, ‘A Wreath for the Enemy’ (3.5 stars).
This book went from before World War Two to during it, and then shortly thereafter and was about a young actress, Caroline, who fell in love and had an affair with a surgeon, Michael Knowles, who was married to Mercedes. And there were sundry people who were connected with those three people. And that’s it. Well at least that is all I can say.
I have liked some books in which we are privy to the thoughts of the characters (and sometimes what they are thinking does not match up with what they are saying)...I think Elizabeth Taylor the author tended to do this. But in this book it just got too annoying. The different characters would say something and then either before or after that text there would be text in parentheses about what they were thinking. That would be OK if it was just sporadic or perhaps if it was one character, but it was multiple characters doing this over and over again. Plus, at times it was hard to follow who was talking and/or thinking when there were multiple people in a conversation, and no indication of who the character was doing the talking.
One the back cover, it says that this is perhaps her best-known novel. Hmmph! 😑
Reviews (they all loved it):
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2014/...
• https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogs...
• https://fleurinherworld.com/2013/08/2...
And I liked the other work I read by Pamela Frankau well enough, ‘A Wreath for the Enemy’ (3.5 stars).
This book went from before World War Two to during it, and then shortly thereafter and was about a young actress, Caroline, who fell in love and had an affair with a surgeon, Michael Knowles, who was married to Mercedes. And there were sundry people who were connected with those three people. And that’s it. Well at least that is all I can say.
I have liked some books in which we are privy to the thoughts of the characters (and sometimes what they are thinking does not match up with what they are saying)...I think Elizabeth Taylor the author tended to do this. But in this book it just got too annoying. The different characters would say something and then either before or after that text there would be text in parentheses about what they were thinking. That would be OK if it was just sporadic or perhaps if it was one character, but it was multiple characters doing this over and over again. Plus, at times it was hard to follow who was talking and/or thinking when there were multiple people in a conversation, and no indication of who the character was doing the talking.
One the back cover, it says that this is perhaps her best-known novel. Hmmph! 😑
Reviews (they all loved it):
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2014/...
• https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogs...
• https://fleurinherworld.com/2013/08/2...
May 5, 2022
Definitely in my top 5 of the year.
The ending! I loved it so much.
The Willow Cabin is divided into 3 parts, starting with “Time Stolen”, where Caroline, a young stage actress begins her relationship with an older, married surgeon. This is followed by “The Calendar of Long Hours”, which deals primarily with WW2, how each character takes part in it and how it changes everyones lives. Finally, there is “Time Harvested”, where Caroline takes a trip to a farm in California and meets an elusive character who’s been lurking in the shadows of her life. As a reader you’re waiting for this moment throughout the entire book, not sure how it’ll go, and the payoff is so worth it (and not what I expected it to be). The whole story comes together perfectly. And I know, this summary is pretty vague and I’m leaving a lot out, but it’s because I don’t want to give away too much!
I should also mention the Prologue and Epilogue, which, despite being brief, maybe contained some of my favorite parts of the book. One quote that particularly struck me because I’ve definitely thought it but nowhere near as eloquently:
“Once again she brooded upon the adventure of first acquaintance, when you could be so easily and entertainingly yourself; light-hearted and wise for a stranger, as never for those who knew you well.”
The thing I love about Frankau’s writing is that she never falls into cliches, ever. Though the topics and some of the storyline can almost border on typical, there’s always a little twist or section of dialogue or comic relief or left turn that makes it completely realistic and relatable and touching. She’s also really funny. One little scene of many that made me laugh because of its black humor - Caroline and her friend Jay are dining in a lounge, joking about their misery, while guns and bombs are going off in the not so distant background:
Jay said, “How safe we are—You won’t die simply because you want to; I won’t die simply because I don’t care.”
There are layers and layers to this book and to the characters themselves, which, in my opinion, is what sets it apart from other similar novels I’ve read.
I dog-eared and highlighted so many passages that gave me goosebumps that I’m not even including here! If I could I’d just include the last few pages of the epilogue, to be honest.
I now have a lovely book hangover. I also think I have COVID, but that's another story!
The ending! I loved it so much.
The Willow Cabin is divided into 3 parts, starting with “Time Stolen”, where Caroline, a young stage actress begins her relationship with an older, married surgeon. This is followed by “The Calendar of Long Hours”, which deals primarily with WW2, how each character takes part in it and how it changes everyones lives. Finally, there is “Time Harvested”, where Caroline takes a trip to a farm in California and meets an elusive character who’s been lurking in the shadows of her life. As a reader you’re waiting for this moment throughout the entire book, not sure how it’ll go, and the payoff is so worth it (and not what I expected it to be). The whole story comes together perfectly. And I know, this summary is pretty vague and I’m leaving a lot out, but it’s because I don’t want to give away too much!
I should also mention the Prologue and Epilogue, which, despite being brief, maybe contained some of my favorite parts of the book. One quote that particularly struck me because I’ve definitely thought it but nowhere near as eloquently:
“Once again she brooded upon the adventure of first acquaintance, when you could be so easily and entertainingly yourself; light-hearted and wise for a stranger, as never for those who knew you well.”
The thing I love about Frankau’s writing is that she never falls into cliches, ever. Though the topics and some of the storyline can almost border on typical, there’s always a little twist or section of dialogue or comic relief or left turn that makes it completely realistic and relatable and touching. She’s also really funny. One little scene of many that made me laugh because of its black humor - Caroline and her friend Jay are dining in a lounge, joking about their misery, while guns and bombs are going off in the not so distant background:
Jay said, “How safe we are—You won’t die simply because you want to; I won’t die simply because I don’t care.”
There are layers and layers to this book and to the characters themselves, which, in my opinion, is what sets it apart from other similar novels I’ve read.
I dog-eared and highlighted so many passages that gave me goosebumps that I’m not even including here! If I could I’d just include the last few pages of the epilogue, to be honest.
I now have a lovely book hangover. I also think I have COVID, but that's another story!
August 24, 2013
When I searched for the source of the title of Pamela Frankau's 1949 novel, it was lovely to remember how lovely it was, and to realise that it suited the book that I had just read quite beautifully.
This the story of Caroline Seward, a young actress who had just had her first taste of success on the stage. Wonderful possibilities opened up for her, but she didn't take them. Because she had fallen in love - with Michael Knowles, a successful, middle-aged doctor - and she built her life around him.
He loved her.
But Michael was married. He and his wife were estranged, and he made it clear from the start that that there could be no divorce. Caroline accepts the situation, she lives for the moment, but it casts a shadow over their relationship. How could it not?
When war came, and Michael was called up, Caroline signed up for military service so that she would be as close to him as she could be. But Michael did not survive the was. Caroline, grieved for him, but it was only when she finally met her lover's estranged wife that she fully understood and could come to terms with everything that had happened.
You could call this a love story, and of course it is a love story, but it is so much more that those simple words suggest.
It is the story of a young woman who changes, and whose understanding grows. And it is the story of her relationships. With theatre friends and colleagues, who appreciate her talent, who want to work with her, but are often infuriated by her. With Michael's friends and family, who were also friends and family of his estranged with. With her best friend, who was practical, sensible, and just the friend she needed.
Every character, every relationship is carefully and beautifully drawn, with rich detail and understanding that gives the story wonderful depth and power. Period detail, and a lovely writing style, made it very readable. So many different scenes played out so very well; the story lived and breathed.
Michael was an elusive character, and I'm inclined to think that Pamela Frankau was much better at women that men. Certainly it's the women - Caroline; Michael's estranged wife, Mercedes; Caroline's best friend Joan; Michael's sister, Dorothy - who make the story sing.
Caroline was not the most likeable heroine. She was often heedless to the consequences of her actions, and insensitive to the feelings and concerns of others. But she was utterly believable, and I found that I felt for her, even when I was shocked or disappointed by her actions.
Her story and its telling might seem a little dated now, but it is so well done that it more than repays slow and careful reading. And now I'm very interested to find out who I might meet in Pamela Frankau's other novels ...
"Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love,
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Halloo your name to the reverberate hills,
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out ‘Olivia!’ O, you should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth,
But you should pity me…"
From Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
This the story of Caroline Seward, a young actress who had just had her first taste of success on the stage. Wonderful possibilities opened up for her, but she didn't take them. Because she had fallen in love - with Michael Knowles, a successful, middle-aged doctor - and she built her life around him.
He loved her.
"He came over to the chair, pulled her out of it and stood holding her hands. 'If I were really grown-up now, I should say good-bye to you and walk out of your life. And yet I cannot bear to go.'"
But Michael was married. He and his wife were estranged, and he made it clear from the start that that there could be no divorce. Caroline accepts the situation, she lives for the moment, but it casts a shadow over their relationship. How could it not?
When war came, and Michael was called up, Caroline signed up for military service so that she would be as close to him as she could be. But Michael did not survive the was. Caroline, grieved for him, but it was only when she finally met her lover's estranged wife that she fully understood and could come to terms with everything that had happened.
You could call this a love story, and of course it is a love story, but it is so much more that those simple words suggest.
It is the story of a young woman who changes, and whose understanding grows. And it is the story of her relationships. With theatre friends and colleagues, who appreciate her talent, who want to work with her, but are often infuriated by her. With Michael's friends and family, who were also friends and family of his estranged with. With her best friend, who was practical, sensible, and just the friend she needed.
Every character, every relationship is carefully and beautifully drawn, with rich detail and understanding that gives the story wonderful depth and power. Period detail, and a lovely writing style, made it very readable. So many different scenes played out so very well; the story lived and breathed.
Michael was an elusive character, and I'm inclined to think that Pamela Frankau was much better at women that men. Certainly it's the women - Caroline; Michael's estranged wife, Mercedes; Caroline's best friend Joan; Michael's sister, Dorothy - who make the story sing.
Caroline was not the most likeable heroine. She was often heedless to the consequences of her actions, and insensitive to the feelings and concerns of others. But she was utterly believable, and I found that I felt for her, even when I was shocked or disappointed by her actions.
Her story and its telling might seem a little dated now, but it is so well done that it more than repays slow and careful reading. And now I'm very interested to find out who I might meet in Pamela Frankau's other novels ...
August 24, 2014
“Make me a willow cabin at your gate,
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love,
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Halloo your name to the reverberate hills,
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out ‘Olivia!’ O, you should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth,
But you should pity me…”
(Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare)
I saw a madcap production of Twelfth Night just recently, and yet in the midst of the madcap nature of the production those beautiful words rang out, and reminded me of a book I had waiting. – Fleur in her world had sent me this lovely copy of The Willow Cabin last Christmas as part of the Librarything secret Santa Virago gift exchange.
It’s not often I get book hangover – usually no matter how wonderful a book – or how terrible, I find myself able to move on fairly happily to the next book. The Willow Cabin may turn out to be one of my favourite Viragoes ever and I think affected my enjoyment quite adversely, of the two books I read just after it. I also find it particularly hard sometimes to write about a book I loved as much as I did The Willow Cabin – it’s almost as if I have a strange mixture of too much to say and not quite enough. I know I can’t adequately describe the true wonder of this novel, but Frankau’s characters, are beautifully explored, the women particularly, her London of the 1930’s and 40’s becoming fabulously real. The final section of the novel entitled Time Harvested, I found exceptionally poignant. Frankau builds a picture slowly of the lives of these people, as the final pieces of the puzzle are slotted together at the end of the novel, the lives of these people are revealed entirely and the reader only then understands these exceptionally drawn characters.
“He came over to the chair, pulled her out of it and stood holding her hands. ‘If I were really grown-up now, I should say good-bye to you and walk out of your life. And yet I cannot bear to go. And Oh Caroline, I would give my soul to be twenty-two again, d’you see?’ ”
The novel opens in 1936; Caroline Seward is a twenty-two year old actress whose talent shows great promise. Living in London with her mother and prosperous step-father; the-spoilers-of the-fun as she calls them – Caroline is ripe for escape. At an after show party Catherine meets Michael Knowle a surgeon in his late thirties, married, though estranged from his wife, and almost instantly Michael becomes the entire focus of her life. Caroline leaves home, moving to a small hotel, and embarks on a relationship with Michael – who is unable to get a divorce – that will last years. Caroline loves Michael completely; Michael is Caroline’s whole world. Deliberately allowing her career to take a back seat to her relationship, Caroline’s other friends and colleagues are frustrated at this throwing away of her talent, especially Dennis Brookfield who is a friend of Michael and his wife Mercedes and loves Caroline himself. Mercedes, living in France throws a shadow over Caroline’s happiness; Caroline silently calls her names, and is forever trying to understand the motivations of this woman she has never met. Mercedes as much of an obsession for Caroline at times as the man she loves.
In the years before the war, Caroline and Michael slip into an easy rhythm of life, Caroline residing in the hotel, living for the next brief meeting with Michael, half-heartedly taking a few small theatrical roles. The couple have to content themselves with carefully orchestrated midnight meetings at Michael’s London home, and the anonymity of foreign places, as Michael himself continues his brilliant work at the hospital. Their relationship appears almost legitimised on a trip to America, meeting with some friends of Michael and Mercedes Knowle – who instantly understand how matters stand between Michael and Caroline. Later Caroline meets Dorothy, Michael’s sister, who hadn’t got along with Mercedes, but who likes Caroline. However, always in the background is Mercedes, and then war comes. War brings the pain of separation, as Michael is stationed abroad, and Caroline in the A.T.S lives only to hear from him. War brings change and upheaval for many people, including Caroline.
“Now she saw that the look of Michael stopped short below the temples; the woman had large dark eyes, a short nose and a small chin. For a moment her expression did not change; the whole face seemed stony and vigilant. Then she smiled.”
In 1948 Caroline travels to America again, this time as a successful actress on tour with a play nearing the end of its long run. Still needing answers, Caroline decides to meet with Mercedes Knowle, the woman who had so obsessed her years earlier. At the home of Lee Adams – whom Caroline had met before the war with Michael, she finally encounters Mercedes, and discovers an unexpected bond with her, and begins to understand her own misinterpretations of the past.
And call upon my soul within the house;
Write loyal cantons of contemned love,
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;
Halloo your name to the reverberate hills,
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out ‘Olivia!’ O, you should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth,
But you should pity me…”
(Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare)
I saw a madcap production of Twelfth Night just recently, and yet in the midst of the madcap nature of the production those beautiful words rang out, and reminded me of a book I had waiting. – Fleur in her world had sent me this lovely copy of The Willow Cabin last Christmas as part of the Librarything secret Santa Virago gift exchange.
It’s not often I get book hangover – usually no matter how wonderful a book – or how terrible, I find myself able to move on fairly happily to the next book. The Willow Cabin may turn out to be one of my favourite Viragoes ever and I think affected my enjoyment quite adversely, of the two books I read just after it. I also find it particularly hard sometimes to write about a book I loved as much as I did The Willow Cabin – it’s almost as if I have a strange mixture of too much to say and not quite enough. I know I can’t adequately describe the true wonder of this novel, but Frankau’s characters, are beautifully explored, the women particularly, her London of the 1930’s and 40’s becoming fabulously real. The final section of the novel entitled Time Harvested, I found exceptionally poignant. Frankau builds a picture slowly of the lives of these people, as the final pieces of the puzzle are slotted together at the end of the novel, the lives of these people are revealed entirely and the reader only then understands these exceptionally drawn characters.
“He came over to the chair, pulled her out of it and stood holding her hands. ‘If I were really grown-up now, I should say good-bye to you and walk out of your life. And yet I cannot bear to go. And Oh Caroline, I would give my soul to be twenty-two again, d’you see?’ ”
The novel opens in 1936; Caroline Seward is a twenty-two year old actress whose talent shows great promise. Living in London with her mother and prosperous step-father; the-spoilers-of the-fun as she calls them – Caroline is ripe for escape. At an after show party Catherine meets Michael Knowle a surgeon in his late thirties, married, though estranged from his wife, and almost instantly Michael becomes the entire focus of her life. Caroline leaves home, moving to a small hotel, and embarks on a relationship with Michael – who is unable to get a divorce – that will last years. Caroline loves Michael completely; Michael is Caroline’s whole world. Deliberately allowing her career to take a back seat to her relationship, Caroline’s other friends and colleagues are frustrated at this throwing away of her talent, especially Dennis Brookfield who is a friend of Michael and his wife Mercedes and loves Caroline himself. Mercedes, living in France throws a shadow over Caroline’s happiness; Caroline silently calls her names, and is forever trying to understand the motivations of this woman she has never met. Mercedes as much of an obsession for Caroline at times as the man she loves.
In the years before the war, Caroline and Michael slip into an easy rhythm of life, Caroline residing in the hotel, living for the next brief meeting with Michael, half-heartedly taking a few small theatrical roles. The couple have to content themselves with carefully orchestrated midnight meetings at Michael’s London home, and the anonymity of foreign places, as Michael himself continues his brilliant work at the hospital. Their relationship appears almost legitimised on a trip to America, meeting with some friends of Michael and Mercedes Knowle – who instantly understand how matters stand between Michael and Caroline. Later Caroline meets Dorothy, Michael’s sister, who hadn’t got along with Mercedes, but who likes Caroline. However, always in the background is Mercedes, and then war comes. War brings the pain of separation, as Michael is stationed abroad, and Caroline in the A.T.S lives only to hear from him. War brings change and upheaval for many people, including Caroline.
“Now she saw that the look of Michael stopped short below the temples; the woman had large dark eyes, a short nose and a small chin. For a moment her expression did not change; the whole face seemed stony and vigilant. Then she smiled.”
In 1948 Caroline travels to America again, this time as a successful actress on tour with a play nearing the end of its long run. Still needing answers, Caroline decides to meet with Mercedes Knowle, the woman who had so obsessed her years earlier. At the home of Lee Adams – whom Caroline had met before the war with Michael, she finally encounters Mercedes, and discovers an unexpected bond with her, and begins to understand her own misinterpretations of the past.
July 4, 2020
Pamela Frankau is my all time favorite author and I just finished re-reading the willow cabin after many years. I hope some of her other books finally come out in ebook format. My personal favorite is Sing for your Supper and the rest of that trilogy. Her writing is beautiful and thought provoking. I found Caroline remote at first but understood her better at the end.
March 17, 2010
Caroline Seward is a talented, up-and-coming actress in 1930s London...until she meets the attractive, middle-aged surgeon Michael Knowles and throws her career away in order to be with him. Unfortunately, he's married, and his estranged wife Mercedes casts her shadow over Caroline and Michael, until finally Caroline meets her and begins to understand the real nature of their triangular relationship.
Michael isn't much more than a shadow, really (though oddly, one understands him better after Mercedes finally appears): it's Caroline and Mercedes who make the book interesting, along with the other women, like Caroline's best friend Joan and Michael's spinster sister Dorothy. Frankau paints Caroline's destructive love sympathetically yet unsparingly: I felt empathy with her deep emotion while also feeling horrified at what she was willing to do for love.
Michael isn't much more than a shadow, really (though oddly, one understands him better after Mercedes finally appears): it's Caroline and Mercedes who make the book interesting, along with the other women, like Caroline's best friend Joan and Michael's spinster sister Dorothy. Frankau paints Caroline's destructive love sympathetically yet unsparingly: I felt empathy with her deep emotion while also feeling horrified at what she was willing to do for love.
October 31, 2010
I feel like I've been looking for Penelope since I read it.
December 12, 2022
I was going to say too much about this book, but I read it too long ago and I'm not sure I have anything accurate to say about it, except that I enjoyed it at the time.
Part of the novel (the last hundred pages or so) takes place a few miles down the road from where I live.
(Update December 2022: This book is a bit "infectious" and has stuck with me over many years. So it does have some longevity in the brain. Occasionally, I find myself thinking back to it when something reminds me of the protagonist's circumstances and journey. At some point I'll likely read it again.)
Part of the novel (the last hundred pages or so) takes place a few miles down the road from where I live.
(Update December 2022: This book is a bit "infectious" and has stuck with me over many years. So it does have some longevity in the brain. Occasionally, I find myself thinking back to it when something reminds me of the protagonist's circumstances and journey. At some point I'll likely read it again.)
October 2, 2017
I found a gorgeous 1951 hardback edition of Pamela Frankau's little talked about novel The Willow Cabin in a charity shop, for the princely sum of 25 pence. It is a title which features on the Virago Modern Classics list, but for some reason, I had seen very few reviews of it before I began to read.
The surprise for me was how modern the novel felt. Whilst I found some chapters far more engaging than others, the flow was wonderful, as was Frankau's continued use of historical background. Every single one of the characters, but in particular the protagonist, Caroline, were rendered as complex beings, with believable pasts. The Willow Cabin is truly beautiful in places, and is certainly one to savour.
The surprise for me was how modern the novel felt. Whilst I found some chapters far more engaging than others, the flow was wonderful, as was Frankau's continued use of historical background. Every single one of the characters, but in particular the protagonist, Caroline, were rendered as complex beings, with believable pasts. The Willow Cabin is truly beautiful in places, and is certainly one to savour.
February 26, 2021
Pamela Frankau is a good writer. Evidence for that is the fact that I finished reading The Willow Cabin, even though I disliked the main character from the start. Well, disliked is probably too strong a word, but she didn’t grab my interest, or cause me to root for her as you hope to in a story. Caroline became obsessed with Michael from the start and for the duration, to the extent that would have been troubling in a modern day male character. As necessary, she gives up her career, her friends, her very life to some extent, to clear the decks to be available for sexual access to a man who is more committed to his marriage than his signals indicate.
But the writing is solid and there are diverse characters to spread your attention around to, so I stuck with it. Though I confess, by the final 10% of the book or so, I just read it to get it done. It wouldn’t have taken much for me to like Caroline. If every man she met and spent fifteen seconds with didn’t fall in love with her, if she respected her friends more or showed a bit more patriotism during the war— well, why go on?
The good news is, if you start reading and find you like Caroline, you will love the book. Failing that, like me, you may still finish it.
But the writing is solid and there are diverse characters to spread your attention around to, so I stuck with it. Though I confess, by the final 10% of the book or so, I just read it to get it done. It wouldn’t have taken much for me to like Caroline. If every man she met and spent fifteen seconds with didn’t fall in love with her, if she respected her friends more or showed a bit more patriotism during the war— well, why go on?
The good news is, if you start reading and find you like Caroline, you will love the book. Failing that, like me, you may still finish it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
July 19, 2020This novel was first published in 1949 which means it came from my "modern fiction" shelf, and my paperback version was published in 1989. My version has an introduction written by British actress Susannah York probably due to the fact that protagonist of the novel is a British actress. Apparently Pamela Frankau, the author, was a popular British author 1927-1957, but I have never heard of her previously. The book contains three sections: 1936-1939 in Britain, 1943-1944 in Britain and Europe during WWII, and 1948 in America. I enjoyed the book's setting and time frame with somewhat interesting characters and storyline. While an enjoyable read, it is not worth adding to a full reading list - unless you happen to be an Anglophile with an interest in pre-during-and post WWII! I can't specifically recall how this book came into my possession. I feel like I picked it up at a rental or someplace that has free used books available. That puzzles me, however, since there is little about the title or description that I would think would have appealed to me, so it remains a mystery. Did you leave it at my house? Anway, it is in good condition and it goes in the donation pile.
February 25, 2016
3.5 stars mainly because I found myself skipping large parts of the last section where tangential characters were introduced. Most of the first three quarters of the novel is engaging and moving however and the quality of Frankau's writing is overall very strong. Caroline's decisions and development were extremely believable to me but interestingly, I feel have rarely been portrayed in other characters.
October 15, 2021
Never read this kind of novel before. Enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would. There seems to be no “plot” in the way I’m used to, which I guess is what I mean when saying “this kind of novel”, instead it’s more based around character development (from my amateur book reader POV), but the depth of the characters and Pamela’s ability to paint the most detailed of pictures without overdoing the descriptive aspects is really quite mesmerising!
July 24, 2014
This was a re-read, but I found myself liking this more than when I first read it (though feel I must have re-read at least once since), even though I had slightly confused it with Frankau's A Wreath for the Enemy, because of a rather similar connection between two women who are in a triangulated relationship towards the end of the book.
February 22, 2021
As a literary masterpiece, 5 stars. As an enjoyable read, only 3.
I am, frankly, nervously exhausted after finishing this book.
Presented in 3 parts, I found the first part dull, the second engaging/exciting and the final third pretty depressing.
I think however that the story, as a whole, might haunt me.
Heavy sigh.
I am, frankly, nervously exhausted after finishing this book.
Presented in 3 parts, I found the first part dull, the second engaging/exciting and the final third pretty depressing.
I think however that the story, as a whole, might haunt me.
Heavy sigh.
September 30, 2021
I recently bought a handful of secondhand Virago Modern Classics, and this is the first one I’ve finished up and I just loved it. Beautifully written, with a nice sense of mundane tragedy, and well written characters that still maintain a sense of mystery.
October 27, 2021
Loved this unusual, moving story. An obsessive love triangle presented in an intelligent, reflective and thought provoking way. So much unusual context, history and location. Why had I never heard of Frankau till now?
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews