This book was lovely. I loved the English backdrop and lushness of it. The audiobook has elegant music at the beginning and ending of the story. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Anna Massey's narration...brilliant. 👍👍 9780099499138 Flora, sensing that nobody would be looking her way, risked looking up. All around fellow diners hushed. Across the table Hubert looked bland. Behind his master's chair the butler raised his eyes to the ceiling. General Leigh, face flushed red, said, ' What? ' glaring at Miss Green, who in an almost inaudible voice was heard to repeat her remark. 'D-don't you think the L-League of N-Nations wonderful, General Leigh? W-what do you think of it vis-a-vis B-Baldwin?'
'It is a club for Frogs and Wogs,' said Angus loudly. 'It bodes nothing but ill, it will bring disaster. That bugger Baldwin pretends to go along with it, but he secretly despises it, as I do openly. The League of so-called Nations is an international mafia of ill repute artfully concocted by political lounge lizards and communists at somebody else's expense. Who is going to pick up the bill for all their tommy rot and skulduggery, Miss Green? Tell me that.
Meet Flora Trevelyan. She's a young girl of 10, on vacation in France with her extremely laissez-faire--to the point of negligent--parents. Left to her own devices, she meets hotel staff, a village seamstress, various dogs, and other vacationers. In particular, she meets the Leigh family, and becomes friends with their son Cosmo and his friend Hubert, both of them aged 15. They are at first protective of her, and then over the years begin to love her. There's an even older boy, Felix, who is aged 21 at the time of the French holiday. Wesley describes young love and infatuation well...but there is a creepy edge to it at the same time which put me off from the story somewhat.
At any rate, Flora's parents return to India where her father is a civil servant. Flora stays behind in boarding school. She continues to have intermittent contact with General Angus Leigh, his wife Milly, and their children. We see the over-indulgent, but genuine love of the Leighs contrasted with Flora's family. There are many variations of life shown, but I'm unsure whether any of them are truly sensible!
Bottom line: Very few of the characters were likable, and the story-arc spanned so much time (almost thirty years) that it was difficult to become invested emotionally. However, Wesley writes prose with enough skill to elevate the book slightly above average. Given 2.5/5 stars or a rating of Above Average. Recommended as a library check-out for those who enjoy British/English literature.
Another quote: Eventually asleep, she had nightmares and screamed because Matron, of all people, had turned into a marble bust which yet incomprehensibly and terrifyingly had arms, hands which held her in a throttling grip, shaking her awake. 'You stupid girl, look what you've done to your bedclothes, all tangled up and all over the floor. No wonder you are shivering.'
'Sorry, Matron, I was--'
'I'll get you a hot drink. Doctor will be here in the morning.'
'Is he marble?'
'What d'you mean, marble? Been dreaming you dwelt in marble halls?' Matron straightened the sheets and blankets.
'Marble arms--'
'Not arms, halls. I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls , is how it goes. I'm not totally uneducated, my girl.'
'And I am not your girl!'
Stuff I learned: Here's a link to an article about boarding schools in England http://www.ourkids.net/school/brief-h...
~~And here's a less flattering article about how boarding school may have contributed to some of Flora's neurosis. https://www.ibblaw.co.uk/insights/blo... 9780099499138 For the best part of this book, I was enthralled by the depiction of the time and place. I was a little disappointed by the ending which seemed unmotivated by the trajectories of the characters to prior to that point. Thats ok, though. I still loved this book, and look forward to reading more Mary Wesley. 9780099499138 Coming of age story about a young girl named Flora, who is ignored by her parents, while she is staying at a villa with other upper crust English vacationers. I couldn't seem to get into this book or the characters driving the narrative. 9780099499138 I have a few of Mary Wesley's novels that I want to read again. A Sensible Life is not one of her best though it is a tender and witty novel of how one finds their way to adulthood. There didn't seem a need for a climax but it was a gentle story of friendship, family and love.
9780099499138
Flora Trevelyan is a ten-year-old misfit, despised by her selfish and indolent parents, and left to wander the streets of a small French town whilst her parents prepare to depart for life in colonial India. There she befriends the locals, acquires an extensive vocabulary of French foul language and encounters the privileged lifestyle of the elegant, middle-class British families holidaying in 1920s France.
Introduced for the first time to kindly, civilised and, above all, caring people Flora falls helplessly and hopelessly in love with not one but three young men.
Over the next forty years Flora will grow from an awkward schoolgirl into a stunning beauty and explore, consummate and finally resolve each of these affairs. A Sensible Life
Review A Sensible Life
I love Mary Wesley's books. I read them all in Danish a long time ago. 9780099499138 This was holiday reading for me, chosen as a fast read as I found it in the holiday rental! Mary Wesley writes well and is careful to research her locations and historical background. The story carried me along and has that bitter sweet quality of novels set in the interwar years. 9780099499138 It's hard to give a 5 to books that are kind of depressing, but it's very realistic. So much wasted time and energy. People should learn to do better. 9780099499138 Hated it. I would like to drown these characters. 9780099499138 I went into this book sure that I would like it, it sure sounded like the kind of book I would love. Instead, I found it slow moving, pointless, and filled with unsympathic characters (downright annoying). I found Flora fascinating, but everything I learned about her, I had to learn through characters that I disliked intensely. By the end, I really dreaded finishing the book. 9780099499138