The Grotto [Hardcover]

Carol Lansbury (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fascinating bits of mythology and history are woven into this well-crafted novel set during the 1920s and '30s amid the crumbling ruins of Sicily's ancient hill towns and on the rude, bustling frontier of Australia. Born to English and Sicilian parents whose love for each other shuts out the world, Gwen Harcourt di Marineo saves her own adoration for her best friend Bessie, an English girl who summers in Sicily. Gwen is barely touched by her mother's death, but the loss of Bessie nearly crushes her. Forced to leave Sicily, she embarks for Australia, where she re-creates herself as a hotelier of distinction, an enigmatic model and the promoter of her horribly narcissistic cousin Dolphi, star of vaudeville and radio. Despite these rebirths, the superstitions and maledictions of Sicily hang 'round her shoulders like a heavy cloak. Love eludes Gwen for the most part; unfortunately, shrill hysteria is the passion she and other characters often share. Lansbury's ( Felicity ) clever, vivid imagery and evocation of brooding gothic atmosphere do much to keep the narrative engrossing. 35,000 first printing.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This is the story of a girl's growth to adulthood--a journey that takes her from Sicily to rural Australia to Sydney. Gwen--or Gina, as her Sicilian family calls her--is the offspring of a forbidden love match between her aristocratic English mother and Sicilian father. Envious of their love for each other, Gwen seeks throughout her life to find a love of her own to match that of her parents. The plot has many twists and turns, several unlikely, until Gwen seems to find what she is looking for in a new role as mother. While this novel is well written and well constructed, it will appeal only to those with romantic tastes and will alienate many readers in its insistence upon fertility and motherhood as essential ingredients for fulfillment in a young woman's life.
- Julia Duffy, CUNY Graduate Sch. Lib.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 537 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; First US edition (May 6, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394574389
• ISBN-13: 978-0394574387
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,555,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sicily and Australia: myth and reality ., June 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Grotto (Hardcover)

This is a long, passionate story where life and customs in Sicily and in Australia (in Griffith and Sydney) are vividly portrayed .The heroine is Gwen Harcourt di Marineo, who grows up in Sicily in the twenties. Daughter of an English mother and a Sicilian father, she is taught to feel English and deny her Sicilian heritage. She is brought up to be a scholar by elderly parents whose obsessive love for archaeology and for each other excludes their daughter. As in a Pirandello story, or in a Greek tragedy, fate is always dealing her hard blows, but in true 90's fashion Gwen is a survivor first of all. There is a wide range of personalities in this story and the intricate historical tapestry takes shape through the eyes of them all. Anybody with a dual heritage, whether ethnic or religious, will identify with her perpetual search for herself in this fascinating tale of love, betrayal, survival and harsh reality of fascist times. I found this story fascinating as it captures exactly not the mythical Australia but Australia as it really was and still is in some ways, for Europeans.

4.0 out of 5 stars Sicily and Australia: myth and reality ., June 8, 2000

By 

"vmbr" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Grotto (Hardcover)

This is a long, passionate story where life and customs in Sicily and in Australia (in Griffith and Sydney) are vividly portrayed .The heroine is Gwen Harcourt di Marineo, who grows up in Sicily in the twenties. Daughter of an English mother and a Sicilian father, she is taught to feel English and deny her Sicilian heritage. She is brought up to be a scholar by elderly parents whose obsessive love for archaeology and for each other excludes their daughter. As in a Pirandello story, or in a Greek tragedy, fate is always dealing her hard blows, but in true 90's fashion Gwen is a survivor first of all. There is a wide range of personalities in this story and the intricate historical tapestry takes shape through the eyes of them all. Anybody with a dual heritage, whether ethnic or religious, will identify with her perpetual search for herself in this fascinating tale of love, betrayal, survival and harsh reality of fascist times. I found this story fascinating as it captures exactly not the mythical Australia but Australia as it really was and still is in some ways, for Europeans.