The Looking Glass: A Novel [Hardcover]

Michèle Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 11, 2001

A lushly imagined, sensual novel about memory, desire, and the power of storytelling, from a Booker Prize nominee.

Geneviève is an outsider, raised in an orphanage, now living an isolated existence as a maid to the widowed Madame Patin in a small French village. A teller and collector of stories, she is entranced by Madame Patin's oft-told folktales, which mask cunning and doom beneath beauty. As Geneviève grows into a woman, her life becomes both more sensual and more dangerous. She flees her village home, escaping to another word-spinner, a poet who captivates women -- his mother, his mistress, his niece's governess, and, soon, Geneviève. The poet is kind, but he too is a collector of stories -- and sometimes of secrets beyond words.

An exquisite, knowing, and irresistible novel, The Looking Glass introduces to an American audience "one of Britian's best novelists" (The Independent on Sunday).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Traditional British storytelling expertise merges with the peculiarly French appreciation for sensual pleasures in the work of novelist Roberts, who lives in both countries and is a bestselling writer in England. Her 11th novel, the second to be published here (after Impossible Saints), is a period piece with psychological overtones and an impressionistic palette. Elegant and poetically descriptive, it evokes the seacoast of Normandy in the early 20th century, when horses and carts were still the local means of transport and superstition vied with religion for the souls of the inhabitants. The principal narrator, named GeneviŠve Delange by the nuns in the orphanage where her first 16 years were spent, hires out as maid-of-all-work at Madame Patin's cafe/bar, the only grocery and gathering place in the fishing village of Blessetot. When "cousin" Frederic Montjean arrives, GeneviŠve is dismayed that Madame Patin becomes his lover and marries him. The title refers to a full-length mirror in the bar that is a novelty to GeneviŠve when she first arrives, and is the means of her undoing. After a near-tragedy, she goes to work in the Colbert household, consisting of a formidable matron; her son, G‚rard, a poet; and her granddaughter, Marie-Louise. A British governess called Millicent cares for the child and in due course falls in love with G‚rard, whose longtime mistress, a seamstress named Isabelle, now reappears in his life. These two women tell their stories, and GeneviŠve, who also adores G‚rard, concludes that she must tell hers. "Speaking and telling, you threw joy away," GeneviŠve realizes, and innocence, too; it is fitting that the narrative ends in 1914, on the verge of WWI. Roberts's measured prose is richly suggestive, artfully conveying mystery and passion. The quiet unfolding of this keenly observed tale should please discriminating readers. Agent, Gillon Aitken.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Images of water, themes of storytelling, and the symbol of the mermaid as both dangerous and vulnerable drift through this 12th novel by French-English novelist Roberts (Daughters of the House) with mixed results. The novel begins as Genevi ve, an orphan who longs for affection and family, begins work at a caf in a new town. Roberts's richly imagistic writing brings out every detail of the coastal village, the people, and the daily activities of Genevi ve and her proprietress; you can almost see and smell the food they are preparing and hear the bustle of the town. However, as the story develops and Genevi ve must leave the caf , Roberts loses focus. Genevi ve is rescued from drowning by a poet, who takes her to keep house for his mother. At this juncture, Roberts starts alternating the point of view among several female characters, and the story shifts from being primarily about Genevi ve to being about the poet and the women who love him. The narrative tone of the early segment disappears, and the book becomes didactic and plodding. Suitable for large fiction collections. Rebecca Stuhr, Grinnell Coll. Libs., IA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; 1st edition (July 11, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805067000
• ISBN-13: 978-0805067002
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,684,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What a great novel, March 8, 2005

By 

Patricia L. Hamilton "pattyhamilton" (mountain view, ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Looking Glass: A Novel (Paperback)

I was a little leary about starting this book, something about the jacket description or the cover, I'm not sure. But once I picked up this novel I realized I was definitley wrong. This novel is so well written, there were sentences I read more than once just to be able to take it all in. If you like a lyrical well-written novel you need to read this!

2.0 out of 5 stars Better Books to Choose, May 8, 2010

By 

H. P. Carr "hollyfrog" (Toledo, OH United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Looking Glass: A Novel (Paperback)

My book club chose this book based on a short write-up in a recommended reading list for book clubs. A story from the perspective of four women who loved the same man. We had just finished a much more serious book and were looking for something a little saucier. This book is odd. The book is not evenly weighted among the women, who are not fully developed as characters, each of which you feel a lack of attachment to. The perspective of the book shifts and be a bit abrupt at time and includes bits of information that just don't seem to fit with the storyline. Consistent with the rest of the book it all just ends randomly. My roommate read it and immediately put it in the recyling bin because she wouldn't recommend it to anyone and wouldn't bother to resell it.