Miss Peabody's Inheritance (King Penguin) [Paperback]

Elizabeth Jolley (Author)

Book Description

Series: King Penguin | Publication Date: July 17, 1986

A dazzling comic novel—a delightful romp and a blistering satire. “Reading Jolley makes one feel alive.”—Lemony Snicket.

Miss Peabody, a lonely spinster in London, writes a fan letter to Diana Hopewell, an Australian novelist. In reply, Hopewell sends installments of her novel-in-progress, the zany adventures of a trio of gently lesbian ladies, a headmistress and two companions, touring Europe with a hapless student. With each mail delivery, Miss Peabody's involvement with the novelist and her characters intensifies until fantasy and reality poignantly merge. "Wonderful . . . gives great pleasure" (New York Times Book Review).

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two novels are contained here: one is about middle-aged Londoner Miss Peabody who works and cares for her ailing mother. The other is a novel-in-progress sent irregularly to Miss Peabody from a writer in Australia to whom she once wrote a fan letter. Soon the novel excerpts are more real and wonderful than Miss Peabody's own life, and when her mother dies, she moves to Australia, where a poignant surprise awaits. PW found the story "delicately and ironically told, informed by a warm sympathy that tinges even the funniest scenes with rue." November
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Elizabeth Jolley (1923-2007) is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers, with a formidable international reputation, and during the 1980s and 1990s was widely acclaimed with a wide readership in the U. S. Born in England in 1923, she was brought up in a strict, German-speaking household and attended a Quaker boarding school. She became a nurse, married, and with three children moved to Western Australia in 1959. Although she wrote all her life, it was not until she was in her fifties that her books started to receive the recognition they deserved. Her work won every major award in Australia, and was several times selected as a New York Times Notable Book. Excerpts from her novels (including Cabin Fever, Book 2 in the Trilogy) were published in The New Yorker. Her novels include The Sugar Mother, Foxybaby, Miss Peabody's Inheritance, and Mr. Scobie's Riddle. Elizabeth Jolley died in 2007. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (July 17, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014008858X
• ISBN-13: 978-0140088588
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,515,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Miss's Peabody inherits herself, November 12, 2003

By 

Sarah Duncan (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miss Peabody's Inheritance (Paperback)

This is the story of Miss Peabody, a woman swallowed by habit and normality, until someone comes alone to bring her out of her mundane existance...a novelist; a pen pal. The story is refreshingly beautiful emcompassing a novel within the novel. Truely inspirational and utterly unforgettable.