Customer Reviews

Mornings at Seven

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I am really surprised that Eric Malpass is so obscure in the United States. After all, his books are a British classic, written in English, so they do not even need to be translated. And they are so packed with humor, warmth, and good vibes that they can brighten even the most rainy day.

"Morning's at Seven" is the first of the cycle about the Pentecost family, who live in the British Midlands, in the countryside. We can get acquainted with all the family members one morning when Gaylord, the seven-year-old, youngest family member, does the tour of all the bedrooms and manages to irritate everyone: his grandfather, great-aunt Marigold, his two aunts, frivolous Becky and bitter teacher Rose, and his parents, May and Jocelyn (Gaylord's father is the author's alter ego, a writer specializing in satiric novels).

We get to know the family and spend with them all the seasons of the year, participating in their daily life. The central character is Gaylord, whose inquisitive nature and fondness for Willie, a feeble-minded teenager with many older brothers, gets him in a lot of trouble. The parents try to help him out of his problems, but, inadvertently, Gaylord is a spiritus movens of many events leading to changes of the romantic lives of his aunts, and, therefore, the whole household.

The fantastic language, genuine family feeling and wonderfully depicted characters and their adventures make "Morning's at Seven" a novel to return to. This book , although published in 1965, will never become obsolete, although (or: because?) the characters do not use cell phones or play video games.