Temples of Delight

I started my Trapido obsession when "The Travelling Hornplayer" came into the bookshop where I work on weekends. After reading that (with bated breath) I ordered each and every other books by this wonder that I could find. So, even after reading the 'series' out of sequence, I can hereby state that is one of the best bunches of books around. "Temples of Delight" appealed to me a bit more, maybe, than even the others; I always was a bit of a sucker for a school story, which the story of Jem and Alice starts out as. Plus, the enchanting scraps of "The Divine Miss Davidine Delight," Jem's novel, are just gorgeous. I can picture Iona Morgan cacking herself as she reads it in Alice's room. The characters on the whole are very easy to visualise, which for me is a big indication of the author's abilities. Even more than that, you find yourself yelling at Roland, "Stop it, you twit!" and at Joe, "You complete jammy bas*ard!" (isn't he AWFUL!) and feeling so sorry for little Alice. And then, she's so happy, and you can believe she deserves her happiness. In the series as a whole, I love the Shakespearean twists (not quite the second son of Sir Rowland de Boys, however) and the way everyone pairs off, in the most unlikely couples. Reading through each book, you come across linkages and cross-linkages you utterly weren't expecting. Magnificent. I can't say enough nice things about this book, this series, this author. I can't wait for the next one! (I think its to be called "Having Sex With Stravinsky" and is due sometime in 2001. Or before, if we all wish hard enough.) Read on!

What could be a better pleasure than finding a modern fairy tale of a very smart book that has sequels, and whose sequels intertwine with other unique but sequalized books by the same genius author? Sure, it is unlikely that so many lives like these should each contain such drama and beauty and then miraculously meet characters from previous books, but what fun, what romanticism! Finally, an intelligent person's serial novel. Is anyone else distracted by the fact that every A-level character ends up at Oxbridge? Can't people go to U of Sheffield or wherever and still be glorious? And why did the Italian branch of the family get such little mention? Or - maybe a new book will address them! Write more, Ms Trapido!

Quite simply, Temples of Delight is one of the best novels I've ever read. It has everything--childhood, love, friendship, sex, money, academia, religion. The characters are miraculously rendered and the prose is a language lover's feast. Why isn't Trapido better known in the U.S.? I have the terrible feeling that U.S. publishers don't think we will get her literary allusions. But Trapido's use of literary allusions is so friendly, so unpretentious, so interesting, that they are one more reason to love her work. And love her work I do. Trapido is such a brilliant writer I would happily read her grocery lists.

I will always bless the person who recommended Barbara Trapido to me. Temples of Delight exemplifies her humour, her insight, her genius for storytelling. She handles the joys, pitfalls and surprises of life and love with supreme skill. This is a funny, moving, intelligent, absorbing, magical, luminous work of art (and the sequel "Juggling" is even better).

Trapido enthralls readers with writing that is as funny as it is poignant. Alice, an English schoolgirl, is transformed by her friendship with the spirited Jem to become an imaginative reader of immense proportions... Jem disappears as immediately as she entered Alice's life, but Alice remains loyal to childhood memories and is finally rewarded when Jem re-enters her life bringing Alice a gift: her very own "man of letters", a dangerous Sarastro with flashing eyes and irresistible charm, Giovanni. Enter this world of literary bliss, laugh and cry with characters you won't forget; TEMPLES OF DELIGHT is a spiritual experience