Persephone Books discussion

What did you think?

Man, the last paragraph of this novel, what a heartbreaker! I mean you knew it all along. It's not like she was hiding this bit of information, but to see it laid out so plainly was just terribly sad. And I believe Walter knew all along. I mean he even sympathized with his wife when she wandered off to visit friends and even to hang out with Hugo without too much questioning. I think he felt lucky to have her and saw that she was becoming listless in their life together over time. And everybody tried to warn her, but I guess she got to the point where she felt like she was at that age and Hugo wasn't stepping up. But why wasn't he stepping up? I don't quite understand that part.

I thought the novel improved quite a bit after the war started. It was a bit too lackadaisical before that. I felt sorry for Helen all along. Walter may have been the proverbial good husband, but I think she would have rather had the ups and downs of a real love affair with Hugo.

I just finished just now. I , too, never understood why she married Walter. She even tried to tell him she couldn’t marry him, but somehow he convinced her to put her doubts aside. I wonder why her grandmother never liked Hugo. She felt that Helen made the perfect choice in marrying Walter. That last paragraph says it all. It left me feeling sad to think that this was it for her.

When I went to write my review for this book, I found it so hard to formulate my thoughts. Here Helen is at 40, feeling old and just plodding forward. How many other people post WWI feel the same- that life has lost its meaning. I really wished that John had been Hugo’s baby. Do I respect her for not giving in to her feelings and remaining faithful to Walter? I’m not sure in this instance. I would definitely read another book by Murray at some point.

Dianne wrote: "Man, the last paragraph of this novel, what a heartbreaker! I mean you knew it all along. It's not like she was hiding this bit of information, but to see it laid out so plainly was just terribly s..."

I've just finished, and agree about that last paragraph. Also, I found the letter she wrote to him when he had already died to be heartbreaking. The sense of loss in the last part was hard to read at times.

I have been slowly reading Testament of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900 - 1925, and kept being reminded of it while reading this book. There are times when the losses of young men connected to the narrators just seems relentless.

Testament of Youth was an extraordinary book. The impact of all those young men dying- I don’t think I ever felt as much as when reading that book. The Happy tree definitely left me with that feeling as well- that last paragraph just said it all.

Antoinette wrote: "Testament of Youth was an extraordinary book. The impact of all those young men dying- I don’t think I ever felt as much as when reading that book. The Happy tree definitely left me with that feeli..."

It is. I'm finding I'm having to choose my time for reading it well. I'd be an emotional mess if I sat down and read it right through.