Fraud

Anita Brookner often writes of the overlooked middle aged "spinster", as she does in this perfectly realized story, one of her best. The heroine, Anna Durrant, of stiff upper lip and anorectic frame, has been passed over by the man who could have rescued her from social isolation. A doctor, he has instead married Vicky, a flashy, sexy emptyhead he has nothing in common with, and who treats Anna with barely concealed contempt. A fairly constant Brookner theme, this, the quiet but intelligent and sensitive woman, sexually outmaneuvered by a conniving rival, and the man who, given the freedom to choose, will unwisely choose the conniver. Although Miss Brookner carefully guards her privacy, her novels speak for themselves. Anna Durrant is not quite a typical Brooknerian intellectual, but her successful rival is the archetypal Brookner villainness. As in Hotel du Lac and Look at Me, the ruthless seductress succeeds where the virtuous woman fails. I have read almost all Miss Brookner's novels, and there is a consistent femaleness in the sensibility as she casts a gimlet eye on women and their designs. I would surely hate to be pinned beneath her pitiless gaze! This is yet another acid pen portrait, and Miss Brookner is master of her material.

I shall go out on a limb and deem this the best Brookner I have read thus far. A good holiday read, for as with most Brookner, this is a demanding read, requiring time, dedication, and attention to her detailed prose. However, this book differs from most Brookner, as it slides between points of view, taking us effortlessly and seemlessly into the minds of three disparate main characters ~ Anna Durrant; the doctor; and Mrs Marsh. There are also other, supporting characters whom we are introduced to, all of whom provide enlightening peeks into Brookner's trademark 'circumscribed lives'. Anna Durrant, the heroine, is written almost as a parody of Brookner's well-educated, well-off, well-kept women who have devoted themselves to some desperate, hopeless cause or another. Anna is disatisfied, she realises how boring, how up-tight she appears to others, and this adds for a bit of ~ dare I say? ~ light relief. Mrs Marsh, the elderly curmudgeon Anna befriends despite herself and against the oppositions of Miss Marsh, is a wonderful outspoken, fully-fleshed, roundly-experienced individual ~ the perfect foil for the reticent, protected Anna. And the doctor who suffers a reluctant attraction to Anna's very slender charms is superbly characterised. The doctor has chosen another over Anna, a bright, active, shimmery, shallow sort of woman, an Anna-antithesis, and this becomes the catalyst for all sorts of inner turmoil and Brooknerian heartbreak. Take this one out to the terrace, pour yourself a lemonade, and settle into a satisfying, depthy read.

This book is wonderful. Although the characters don't DO much, it's their inner world that counts.Just when you think Anna is lost forever, she manages to find some inner resource to turn her life around. Hooray! And those that she leaves behind will have to face the honest truth about themselves, or risk living a wasted life.The author is so very adept at exploring the differences of how we act, in order to be socially acceptable, and how we really feel--what we'd do if we didn't live in "polite society."

With this book, I have just discovered the wonderful talent of Anita Brookner (where have I been?). The book's idea is common and simple- growing old,being alone, missing out on life- and it is woven into a story that is worth reading every page. I found that I got to really know the characters and cared about them. I agree with a reviewer that writes about her "satiny prose". Can't wait to try her other books.