Matilda Poliport, recently widowed, has decided to End It All. But her meticulously planned bid for graceful oblivion is foiled, and when later she foils the suicide attempt of another lost soul - Hugh Warner, on the run from the police - life begins again for both.But life also begins to throw up nasty secrets and awkward questions: just what was Matilda's husband Tom doing in Paris? How is the soon-to-be-knighted John (or Piers as he likes to be called) involved? Was Louise more than just a lovely daughter? And why did Hugh choose Matilda as his saviour?
--This text refers to the
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Late-bloomer Wesley published this first novel in Britain at the age of 70a fact that explains the breadth of experience reflected here. As a practical decision, Matilda Poliport, middle-aged and recently widowed, is preparing at the story's outset to commit suicide before the trials of old age can beset her. But she is temporarily thwarted by an encounter with a highly publicized gentleman murderer on the runa matricide, in fact. Matilda whimsically decides to shelter the otherwise sympathetic killer for a few days and agrees to abet his escape to the Continent. Within their brief, strangers-on-a-train-like intimacy, Matilda talks frankly about her life, while the matricide remains strangely silent about his odious crime. However, what the reader learns about Matilda is far more than she admits to herself. Wesley leaves us wondering about the limits of human knowing and what anyone can ever finally determine about either the past or one's true motivations. Reality in this contemporary novel remains an open system. The rub is that Matilda, on the one hand, is remarkably self-aware but, on the other, not only self-deluding but also the victim of a reductive imagination, outright lies and withheld or fragmentary informationpitfalls, the novel suggests, that await the reader of this or any other narrative, be it fiction or so-called fact. The novel is delivered in a bright, sparkling style, full of witty asides on the fatuity of modern culture and mores, all the better to underscore its dark themes.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Mary Wesley was born in 1912. Her education took her to the London School of Economics, and during the war, she worked in the War Office. She published her first novel, Jumping the Queue at the age of seventy. It was followed by nine more. Mary Wesley died in 2002.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mary Wesley, recently passed on, great writer,
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This review is from: Jumping the Queue (King Penguin) (Paperback)
The marvelous Mary Wesley passed away a few weeks ago. She was 90. She did not begin publishing until she reached her 70's. She wrote witty social comedy with depth and tenderness and could spin a wicked plot. This was her first novel. I had the pleasure of discovering her when Arts & Entertainment, a TV station, broadcast "Harnessing Peacocks," which was my favorite of her novels. I binged on her work in the 90's, reading one after another. Now that she's gone, I shall reread them all.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Odd tale ends with a surprise.,
By Helen Collins "Helen" (PA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Jumping the Queue (King Penguin) (Paperback)
Jumping the Queue is an unusually crafted story that begins with Matilda Poliport's attempt to end her life thwarted by timing, a non-event which sets the tone for the whole tale. Mary Wesley describes Matilda's environs with exquisite word pictures: her cottage, her neighbors, town. When matricide Hugh Warner stumbles into Matilda's life, things take an interesting turn, and they keep turning that way till the end. Jumping the Queue is an extraordinary story whose ending surprised me, and I'm hard to fool.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Want to read it again,
By Tamar Simchi (Israel, Netanya) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Jumping the Queue (King Penguin) (Paperback)
I read this about ten years ago and loved it. It's funny in a mad way all the way through (or at least that's how I remember it) except for the ending which really did upset me - in a forgiving kind of way.Easy read, great plot and highly recommended.
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