In 1914, when Nicandra is eight, all is well in the grand Irish estate of Deer Forest. Maman is beautiful and adored. Dada, silent and small, mooches contendedly around the stables. Aunt Tossie, of the giant heart and bosom, is widowed but looks splendid in weeds. The butler, the groom, the landsteward, the maids, the men—each has a place and knows it. Then, astonishingly, the perfect surface is shattered: Maman does something too dreadful ever to be spoken of. "What next? Who to love?" asks Nicaranda. And through her growing up and marriage her answer is to swamp those around her with kindness—while gradually the great house crumbles under a weight of manners and misunderstanding.
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"[A] stylish, incisive novel." —O the Oprah Magazine
"Molly Keane is astonishing . . . perhaps her richest work yet, an exquisitely written black comedy with a shock ending. The language is eloquent and original, the descriptions divine." —The Guardian
"An even finer achievement than her earlier mordant masterpiece, Good Behaviour." —Sunday Times
"She is akin to Jane Austen in her feeling for the minutiae of human behaviour." —Polly Devlin, author, All of Us There
"Take any book by Molly Keane and I guarantee you will be delighted, warmed and sustained with pleasure . . . A born writer." —Dirk Bogarde, actor and author
About the Author
Molly Keane (1904–1996) was an Irish novelist and playwright who often wrote under the pseudonym M. J. Farell. She is best known for her novel Good Behaviour (1981), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Michele Roberts is the author of several novels, including Daughters of the House, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the W.H. Smith Literary Award in 1992.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good ending, but kind of slow getting there,
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This review is from: Loving and Giving (Virago Modern Classics) (Paperback)
This book reminded me very much of another Virago book- Sara Grand's The Beth Book. Though published a century later, and set several decades later, there are decided similarities. Both center girls growing up in loveless households, both have lost parents, and both grow up to marry boorish and unfaithful men, their marriages making their lives miserable. But there are distinct differences too, and Keane's Nicandra is no mere copy of Beth Caldwell. Nicandra is neither bright nor feminist. She is a gentle soul, breakable, really. Nicandra's youth is so empty of affection that she fails to function as an adult. Named after her father's favorite horse, Nicandra commands even less attention than her equine namesake. She is a girl, and later a woman, with love to give and no one willing to receive it. Giving love becomes an obsession for Nicandra. It becomes her life's purpose. As Nicandra's marriage appears to be falling apart, so too is her father's home, literally. Her family becomes a living part of the downfall of the Irish gentry.
I was shocked to discover that this book had been written as late as 1988. In tone and language it reads as though it was written in the early-twentieth century, when it takes place. This is a tragic story. Nicandra, though almost monomaniacal in her loving and giving, she is still a complicated enough character to be more than just a type. After reading many books in which the ending disappoints, I am delighted to say that this one lived up to all my expectations. The ending is both suspenseful and unexpected.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Slow, slow, slow......,
By music lover (Northville, MI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Loving and Giving (Virago Modern Classics) (Paperback)
I have not finished this book yet. I have picked it up three times attempting to engross myself in it, but it is an extremely slow read. Therefore, I can not give it a high recommendation. I am disappointed in the book!
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