G. B. Stern (1890–1973)
Auteur de The Matriarch
A propos de l'auteur
Séries
Œuvres de G. B. Stern
No son of mine 8 exemplaires
All in good time 6 exemplaires
Modesta 5 exemplaires
The woman in the hall 4 exemplaires
Thunderstorm 4 exemplaires
Bouquet 4 exemplaires
Seventy Times Seven 3 exemplaires
The rueful mating 3 exemplaires
The way it worked out 2 exemplaires
The room 2 exemplaires
Long lost father 2 exemplaires
The china shop, (Borzoi pocket books) 2 exemplaires
The back seat 2 exemplaires
The slower Judas 1 exemplaire
Smoke rings 1 exemplaire
The patience of a saint; or, Example is better than precept : being a faithful account of the almost incredible… 1 exemplaire
The Rakonitz chronicles 1 exemplaire
He Wrote Treasure Island 1 exemplaire
One is only human 1 exemplaire
Pantomime 1 exemplaire
Oeuvres associées
Trumps: A Collection of Short Stories — Contributeur — 1 exemplaire
Étiqueté
Partage des connaissances
- Nom légal
- Stern, Gladys Bronwyn
- Date de naissance
- 1890-06-17
- Date de décès
- 1973-09-20
- Sexe
- female
- Nationalité
- UK
- Lieu de naissance
- North Kensington, London, England, UK
- Lieu du décès
- Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
- Lieux de résidence
- London, England, UK
Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, UK - Professions
- novelist
playwright
biographer
literary critic
autobiographer - Relations
- Holdsworth, Geoffrey Lisle (husband)
Kaye-Smith, Sheila (co-author)
Forest, Antonia (friend) - Courte biographie
- G.B. (Gladys Bertha, later Gladys Bronwyn) Stern was born in London, England to a cosmopolitan, assimilated Jewish family. She wrote her first novel at age 20 and continued to produce one novel every year until 1964. She also wrote plays, including The Man Who Pays the Piper (1931), which was revived by the Orange Tree Theatre in London in 2013.
With Sheila Kaye-Smith, she wrote two books about Jane Austen, Talking of Jane Austen (1943) and More Talk of Jane Austen (1949). She also published short stories, literary criticism, biographies of Robert Louis Stevenson, and 10 volumes of memoirs and autobiography. Her 1938 novel The Ugly Dachshund was made into a film in 1966.
In 1919, she married Geoffrey Lisle Holdsworth, and sometimes collaborated on works with him.
Membres
Critiques
July 2022 re-read: Much as I seem to have enjoyed this the first time through, on this re-read, I just couldn't get into it or enjoy the characters, although there were some moments of wit. Perhaps one has to be in the right mood!
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Original review:
GB Stern's writing flows very skillfully; she creates scenes and characters that ring very true and very interesting.
In this case, her story revolves around a group of family and extended family who gather for the first time after the end of the second World War. The children especially are convinced that they are going to have a Glorious Time, because after all, peace has set in, and they are all such good friends. Why wouldn't it be perfect?
For a couple of days, all goes well. The children decide to produce a play, to be held the week after Christmas, when their beloved Uncle Ted is finally to visit.
But what seems idyllic turns more and more tense. It starts with a duplicated gift, a less-than-helpful reaction, and hurt feelings that start in one of the children, and ripple through the others, even to the adults. Thoughts that were never meant to be spoken aloud come barreling out.
One ponders on the fact that peaceful day-to-day interactions often require a great deal of self-control, and when once broken down, it becomes difficult to marshal things back into order. But not impossible. The arrival of Uncle Ted provides some fresh air, as he kindly takes in hand the children and their play.… (plus d'informations)
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Original review:
GB Stern's writing flows very skillfully; she creates scenes and characters that ring very true and very interesting.
In this case, her story revolves around a group of family and extended family who gather for the first time after the end of the second World War. The children especially are convinced that they are going to have a Glorious Time, because after all, peace has set in, and they are all such good friends. Why wouldn't it be perfect?
For a couple of days, all goes well. The children decide to produce a play, to be held the week after Christmas, when their beloved Uncle Ted is finally to visit.
But what seems idyllic turns more and more tense. It starts with a duplicated gift, a less-than-helpful reaction, and hurt feelings that start in one of the children, and ripple through the others, even to the adults. Thoughts that were never meant to be spoken aloud come barreling out.
One ponders on the fact that peaceful day-to-day interactions often require a great deal of self-control, and when once broken down, it becomes difficult to marshal things back into order. But not impossible. The arrival of Uncle Ted provides some fresh air, as he kindly takes in hand the children and their play.… (plus d'informations)
Reading this is like being in a book club all by myself, with two invisible members from the 1940s.
Sheila Kaye-Smith and G.B. Stern write whimsical and interesting essays on various aspects of Jane Austen's novels.
In this second volume, they tackle family life, letter-writing, questions of health, characters with no speaking parts, and other subjects.
They even dally with writing brief scenes for some of the novels seven years after "the end." It's all very charming and enjoyable, and much more satisfying than the current rage for fan-fiction and the Hollywoodization of Jane Austen.
Fun stuff!… (plus d'informations)
Sheila Kaye-Smith and G.B. Stern write whimsical and interesting essays on various aspects of Jane Austen's novels.
In this second volume, they tackle family life, letter-writing, questions of health, characters with no speaking parts, and other subjects.
They even dally with writing brief scenes for some of the novels seven years after "the end." It's all very charming and enjoyable, and much more satisfying than the current rage for fan-fiction and the Hollywoodization of Jane Austen.
Fun stuff!… (plus d'informations)
Whoever wrote “comedy of manners” (not to mention “warm” and “witty”) in the description for this book didn’t read past the first chapter. It’s tragic, dark, pointless, and unredeemed. It’s about a psychopathic social climber who becomes indirectly responsible for the death of a decent woman whom she hates. There’s no story arc, and there’s definitely nothing funny here.
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 57
- Aussi par
- 12
- Membres
- 587
- Popularité
- #42,723
- Évaluation
- 4.0
- Critiques
- 22
- ISBN
- 19
- Favoris
- 2
Modesta is the serving-maid of an English couple living in Italy. She's not good for much, as she's rather lazy and a bit sly. But Laurie, a visiting English gentleman, is fired up by his chivalrous notion that Modesta is a misunderstood, virtuous, delicate flower of womanhood, and he spontaneously decides to marry her, take her to England, and give her all her heart's desires.
Nothing bad can come from this idea, right?
The book really is quite funny in places, and the story flows by very quickly. Even if Modesta is a brat, she's well written and in some ways you sympathize with her.
I think more time could have been spent on the rehabilitation of Modesta; it got rather glossed over.
The only difficulty was, the gender/racial stereotypes were a bit heavy at times, and even though I like the way Laurie ends up dealing with his little vixen of a wife, some of the narrator's explanations jarred on me a little. Also the notion that your ancestors give you some kind of magic tendency in your blood to either live on the land or be a gentleman. But, the book is a product of its time, and the storyline works, so it's fine.… (plus d'informations)