Judgement Day

Spoiler warning: I'm beginning to wonder if it's possible to review a Lively without spoilers - the last three books of hers I've read have saved something shocking for the last few pages. Lively always has something to say, in this case about this business of faith. As ever she uses her considerable skills to make her case, although she was perhaps gilding the lily a bit with setting up Martin and Sydney Porter for the biggest of falls: like those `dead meat' characters you know are about to die - honest old cops about to retire; earnest young men showing the hero a picture of their sweetheart before going over the top. But, sure, what do you do with situations like that? Does meaningless disaster lead you to or from faith? On the way to yet another striking conclusion, Lively turns her analytical lens on a range of characters. Indeed, in one scene she takes us house by house up the street describing the activities and décor in each: you can just picture her standing on a street bending her imagination towards each of the windows. She's wonderfully precise, and whether or not the characters she imagines reflect reality, you get a crystal image of what she (or someone a lot like her, like Clare Paling) thinks of the people in her neighbourhood. I can't just run with Lively, despite openly admiring her skills and insight, because of her straw men. The most she can seem to raise for anyone who might disagree with her is pity (but she's not averse to contempt on occasion). She tries a bit harder with poor old George, making him a little sympathetic towards the end, but in making him the mouthpiece for faith she hardly sets her agnostic heroine a worthy adversary. I'm not saying clergymen like George don't exist, but I am saying some pretty articulate and sincere clergy do who aren't in the least threatened or surprised by the sorts of questions she raises. At best it's ignorance, she just hasn't met anyone with a strong faith whose belief is based on more than personality defects; but that's stretching the benefit of the doubt a long way. You could pick up on this in a dozen ways, but just one that's plain silly is this absurd juvenile hubris of presenting the only ones who really understand and appreciate the language and meaning of the bible are unbelieving literary dons who dig the Shakespearian vibe of the Authorised Version. For goodness sake, it's not as if the whole business of bible translation hasn't been kicked around a fair bit by a fair swathe of Christians who could actually tell you the difference between `love' and `charity' (and agape and philos and eros and the rest). It's an embarrassingly common weakness in a deal of self-righteous pagans who, after reading a couple of chapters (or, perhaps, verses) or even maybe doing a six month course, then talk from the greatest of condescending heights about how, say, St. John really believed in reincarnation (or wiccan, or homosexuality, or liberal theology, or skateboarding, or whatev

This small town happens to be in England, but don't be fooled - behind many a stiff upper lip lies a wealth of secrets, reminiscent of an old soap opera. Beneath the horsey smiles, the self-conscious snorty laughter and the other public facades, lie the real people - the repressed and the depressed, the bored and the ignored, the bullies and the blusterers, those waiting for something to happen, and those that do something about it. Penelope Lively carefully develops her characters, unpeeling the fragile exteriors layer by layer, never causing embarrassment, but stripping them to the bone never-the-less. From time to time she pauses to reveal the darker side, but does so without breaking the surface tension, and the story flows onwards. My problem with the story is that, like an enquiring mind, I wanted to know more. I know "who", I know "where", I know "when", but the author leaves me helplessly dangling on the "how" and "why". This is an entertaining peek into little Laddenham, but Penelope Lively pulls the blinds before we can get a fully satisfying look. Amanda Richards, March 17, 2005

Laddenham is a small English village known as a bedroom community of London and also known for its terrible traffic. Laddenham has a lovely triangular green with old Victorian homes on the long of the triangle. Into this village and one of the Victorian homes moves Clare Puling, her husband, a high powered executive in an engineering firm and their two children. Clare is a very intelligent lady, and she is bored. Not bored with her family but bored because she does not have enough to keep her busy. Her husband suggests she invest her time in the village. The town is like all towns. People with secrets, people having affairs, people just getting by, children at loose ends, mothers too busy with everything, and a church in need. Clare and her family are agnostic, but that does not stop her from joining the Church, St Peter and St Paul. George Radwell is the vicar. He is need of assistance to help with fund raising. A lot is needed for the Church's restoration. Clare is a believer in the savagery of fate, and she suggests they put on a pageant that re-creates the Church's history. The entire group works very hard to make the costumes and the designs. What could happen to prevent this pageant from happening? Next door to Clare lived the Bryans. A family full of secrets. Mr. B was having an affair, Mrs. B did nothing but complain and George, the son had stomach aches from the constant arguing. Dad finally left, mom went to visit her sister, and George was left with Mr. Porter who lived next door. All in all it wasn't too bad for George. He had someone who loved him and cared for him, and on top of it all, his dad sent him a new red bike. And then the impossible happened.. This is more of a dark book than Penelope Lively usually writes- she left too many things undone and unsaid; the book was too short. The story was wonderful but left us with too many unanswered questions. However, that said, Penelope Lively is such a marvelous writer that I would even recommend this book. prisrob

I can't believe that this book is out of print! Lively is one of the best British writers still working today. YOu have to admire her gift for writing things simply--but writing them simply better than anyone else.This book is ostensibly about a religious painting in a small town in England, but what it really is is a reflection of the people who live there, the changes in their lives, and their own faith. Claire Paling, an agnostic, is the heroine who comes to understand not only the meaning of the painting, but the importance of faith in the lives of the people around her. You will not be able to put this book down, it's so well-written. Fortunately, it's a quick read.

Fictitious English hamlet is home to a little-appreciated church with some fine Gothic details. When a newcomer, deemed a little too flamboyant for some, arrives and tries to give the church a boost with a little show biz, unsettling events unfold.It's a delightfully descriptive, fast-paced story filled with nicely conceived characters. This is really a low-key mystery novel, but there's more to it than a whodunnit. In my opinion it remains one of her better works; shame it's not in print.Great fun if you want to get a taste of English country sensibilities.