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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A down-to-earth & interesting memoir, October 31, 2008
This review is from: A London Scrapbook (Paperback)
When I first read the title of this memoir "A London Scrapbook", I thought it would be just the author's reminiscences about her life in England, but it turned out to be much more than that - in this funny and touching memoir, Polly Grose gives us readers an insight into her life and loves and the motivations that compel one to make life-altering decisions.
In her memoir, Polly Grose relates her life experiences and the style in which she writes is quite down-to-earth, enabling the reader to form a sort of affinity with the author. I especially liked the parts where she writes about her marriages and she uses the 'ribbon' metaphor - her parents had this 'ribbon' that enabled them to be together for many years but with Polly's first two marriages, the lack of such a 'ribbon' caused the eventual demise of those marriages.
That is the case until she meets Englishman David, who shares Polly's love of sailing and the theatre. Despite the fact that when they first meet, Polly and David are living on two different continents, her growing love for David eventually motivates Polly to move to England. I could truly relate to Polly on this as I myself am originally from Singapore, yet made a life-altering move to the US to be with my American husband.
Polly's love story though not uncommon, is related in a touching and charming manner. It is very much a memoir of love - how David's passion for scrapbooking passes on to Polly, their mutual passions,how Polly comes to truly love the English way of life, and their weathering of the good and the bad[ David's illness and eventual death] and how Polly keeps her spirits up through all this.
Polly Grose may not be a celebrity or world figure yet her memoir makes for an interesting, heartfelt read - there were parts where I stopped, reread some sentences and thought to myself "I can relate to that." This will appeal to those who like reading interesting memoirs.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A New Life in London, December 8, 2008
This review is from: A London Scrapbook (Paperback)
After her second divorce, Polly Grose, the author of this enjoyable, breezy memoir, left Minneapolis where she was raised, to begin life anew in London. I am always intrigued by women who, no longer young, have the courage to do this, particularly because Miss Grose was by no means an unhappy woman. She had an interesting, thriving career, as well as parents and three grown sons with whom she had strong, positive relations. Why would she want to leave such a seemingly good life?
The answer is not surprising: a man. She had met a retired British gentleman named David on a business trip to London and was smitten. She admits that her decision to make such a drastic move was not without qualms. Did he really love her, this man who loved to flirt and had many girlfriends younger than she, this man who owned a boat and loved his sailing jaunts with friends and acquaintances? Would she learn to enjoy this pastime or would it become an ordeal for her, along with his constant rounds of "dinner parties, dances, concerts, and plays; dinners at...large homes and small flats of friends elegantly attired in black and dark suits." Would she miss her family? And perhaps most scarily, might her love for him diminish over time? Grose weighs all these questions and I finished the book believing that while her love for David was real and deep, she was equally influenced by her need for a different kind of life than was available to her in Minneapolis.
She does indeed move to London, maintaining an admirable degree of cheerful accommodation, dressing more conservatively, dining in his favorite restaurants, appreciating the meals he cooks with relish, sailing with him wherever and whenever he wishes. He, in turn, is thoughtful and loving. She continues her work as Development Director in the U.K office of the Humphrey (Hubert) Institute of Public Affairs and their evenings are spent compatibly dining out or updating his latest scrapbook. David does not approve of photo albums, seeing them as pages of disconnected photos pasted in willy-nilly, insisting that his compilations be called "scrapbooks," because they contain photos he carefully selects and that suggest a particular theme.
Did Gross ever feel the pangs of homesickness? Yes, she admits, particularly around Thanksgiving, a normal working day in England. She is not the sailor he is, though I could sense her reluctance to let the reader know this; she makes it clear how much she wants her relationship to succeed. Nevertheless, in addition to crossing the Atlantic from time to time, she calls home often, frustrated by the time differences, sometimes unable to connect, other times cut off in mid-sentence. But although she misses the easy hugs from family and friends, she never considers going back on her decision. "I had followed my heart," she reminds us, "and now I knew I could never return to the Midwest and admit 'it hadn't worked,' that I didn't have the right stuff to make a life change, that I couldn't accept British ways,...hadn't the courage to set a new course. Failure wasn't me." And so she chose to focus on her love for David, on the excitement of their London life.
Ms. Grose writes about more than just her life with David. She writes of her childhood, her previous marriages, the trajectory of her career, her mother's distinctive personality. She allows the reader know her more than just superficially. She depicts her challenging and colorful life with honesty and insight.
Ms. Grose seemed certain that she would remain in London after David's passing, and yet I wondered whether her years with him had converted her into a true Brit, whether she was really at home there, whether his friends had indeed become her friends. I had no trouble turning the pages to find out.
by Duffie Bart
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A warm and touching love story -- about a man and a city and more, November 2, 2008
This review is from: A London Scrapbook (Paperback)
Polly Grose has written a wonderful autobiography about a 20 year love affair with her third husband and their life in London. She used his collection of scrap books to fill the story with the kinds of details that appeal to lovers of London like myself. Most of all, she brings her husband back to life on the page. Here she's writing about the man she met a few hours earlier:
"David was perceptive, frank, down to earth, his body and spirit reflecting his love of sailing, a basic and humbling skill. And when I described my Guthrie theater job and my election to the Board of Directors of the St. Paul Companies, he had said, "Well done you, I must take you to Lloyds on your next visit." And when I had thanked him but mentioned that last year the St. Paul reinsurance people had entertained me and added we'd had very good champagne at lunch, he'd laughed and said, "We spare nothing for distinguished American guests. "
"I'd forgotten the play already but I remembered every word he said."
After David's death, she returned to a condo in Minneapolis, became active in the theatrical world of the Twin Cities, and continues to write about her experiences in England. This from a recent blog on how we run our Presidential campaigns:
"Contrast our present system with the United Kingdom where the
election of the Prime Minister, the leader of his party, is a six
week campaign. Living in London for almost 20 years I observed three
elections. Tories Margaret Thatcher won a second term in 1983, a
third in 1987, and John Major followed in 1992. In 1997 Laborite Tony
Blair was victorious. The rules are simple. The current government
dissolves and the campaign begins with intense radio and television
coverage. Throughout the country residents of each neighborhood
canvas door to door, extolling the virtues of their candidate. In
1992, my 70 year old British husband, an ardent Tory, pounded the
pavements of North Kensington, a neighborhood across Hyde Park from
our Chelsea flat. And my husband felt he single-handedly had lifted
John Major to office. A short and sweet campaign.
"Our system today is obscenely long and costly, jeopardizes the
physical resources of each candidate, and forces him or her to
compromise his elected job. And we, the electorate, are already
exhausted, have emptied our wallets, monies that could have supported
vital social welfare causes."
Grose has written a warm, intelligent, loving memoir. And she has learned a great deal from her experiences that she teaches her readers in turn. This book is a treasure.
Robert C. Ross 2008
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