Customer Reviews

The weather in the streets (A Virago modern classic)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rosamond Lehmann's _The Weather in the Streets_ is a sequel to her earlier book, _Invitation to the Waltz_. Here, Olivia, who in _Invitation to the Waltz_ was a nervous debutante, is now older, though perhaps not much wiser; separated from her husband, she falls in love with the married brother of an old friend and embarks upon a tempestuous affair. Compared to its predecessor, _The Weather in the Streets_ is darker, but more powerful and more complex. Olivia's inner monologues are brilliantly done, and Lehmann even slips into the first person for one section of the book, though the change is so unobtrusive that I almost didn't notice it. Of all of the writers I've read, Lehmann is one of the best at getting into her character's thoughts and showing us their experiences and emotions honestly and directly.

I have just written an essay on this book for Birkbeck College. I think it is a truly wonderful book. Lyrical, sad, moving. It is written and set in 1930's London and I can imagine so much of the scenery. Not (underlined) that I can remember 1930's London, just my imigination and looking at old photos. I have tried to find out more about RL, but I have not been able to discover very much. Just tantalising bits. Is is a lovely book and I reccommend it. Avis Judd

The Weather in the Streets is the sequel to Invitation to the Waltz, which I had loved. Unfortunately, this book turned out to be a huge disappointment for me. Somehow that magic which captured me in the first book was missing in this one.

Olivia's story is continued in this book, which is definitely darker than the first one. Olivia is ten years older, with a broken marriage, and quite different from the young teenage girl I had met in the previous book. This is her story as she begins a love affair with a married man, Rollo Spencer, whom we had met in the first book. The problem was that I was bored for the most part, and badly wanted to skim through. The Olivia I knew and loved seemed to be completely gone - I can understand why she changed so much, yet I could not like her at all. Same goes for Rollo who had fascinated me in the first book, but I found myself hating him. I wanted them to be together before, but now when they were in a relationship, I was just annoyed and exasperated at both of them. More than anything, unlike the colorful characters in the first book, I found the secondary characters here to be completely bland and forgettable. As you can see, my very high opinion of the first book might have been the reason for my dissatisfaction with the second one. Had I read this as a stand-alone, I would have liked this much more.

Despite my disappointment, I will definitely be reading more from the author .