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Chargement... The Good Plain Cook (2008)par Bethan Roberts
Interpersonal Novels (81) Chargement...
Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. I can't agree with the reviews here that call this book "light" and "fluffy". I thought it was well-written, looking at the clashes of expectations between the plain cook, Kitty, who has slightly blagued her way into a job, and the would-be Bohemian loosely based on Peggy Guggenheim. Neither is quite what they seem, and then there are the tensions between lovers, past loves, would-be lovers, girls on the cusp of growing up... quite a few layers here. The lush images of a summer on the Sussex Downs, and the intriguing and sometimes unexpected period detail have lingered with me since I read this book. ( ) Set in the thirties in the English countryside, a story of relationships, the heroine being a young teenage servant - the good plain cook, who lied to get this in the household of the Guggenheims who led a rather bohemian lifestyle, which would have been very shocking in those days (the story was based upon a real person) . I finished the book and can say I thought it was a nice light read, there was a slight menacing air throughout which fitted in well with its 30s setting - but I was a little disappointed in it. The author was born in my area - she teaches creative writing - and maybe I expected too much from the book. The reason I read the book is that it was the choice for a book group I recently joined - and it was interesting that the group was split 50/50 by those who loved it and those who didn't! I was someway in the middle - but we had a lively discussion and after it I was surprised at how much we did find to talk about...maybe I was in the wrong mood for it at the time! (it happens!) Loosely based on the life of Peggy Guggenheim, The Good Plain Cook is a fairly typical tale of British class society. Set in Sussex in 1936 in the household of bohemian Ellen Steinberg, the book opens with the hiring of Kitty Allen as the household cook. We follow the interactions between the various household members and watch relationships develop and fall apart. This is an easy going read, yet the author brings the characters and their desires to vivid life. The good plain cook is a good plain book. It’s an easy read, containing nothing too gripping but nevertheless a pleasant enough story to keep you entertained. The plot all sounded very promising and full of intrigue but in fact it just meandered on in a lazy but comforting style, before reaching its ending in a mildly satisfying manner. If you are looking for a light, fluffy read that takes no concentration, then this will be a perfect choice. Having said that, I wouldn’t have finished reading this book if it weren’t for the fact that I was sent a proof copy in return for a review. Sorry I couldn’t praise it any higher. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
It's summer 1936, and the world is on the cusp of change, but there's little sign of this in rural Sussex. So when local girl Kitty Allen answers an advert looking for 'a good plain cook', she has no idea what she's in for. For starters, her employer is an American called Ellen Steinberg who believes in calling the staff by their first names and sunbathing in the nude. Then there's Ellen's eleven-year-old daughter, Geenie, a bright, unhappy little thing, and Mrs Steinberg's gentleman friend, Mr Crane, who's said to be a poet - even though he doesn't have a beard and doesn't seem to write much poetry either. Rich bohemians imagining themselves as communists, Steinberg and Crane see themselves as champions of 'the people' - not that they know the first thing about how the people actually live. Kitty is in no place to criticise - after all she claimed to be a good plain cook, despite hardly knowing how to boil an egg. Utterly out of her depth, she is relieved to have the gardener, Arthur, to talk to. Otherwise she'd never last a summer in this madhouse. Ellen Steinberg wants life to run as smoothly as the love story she imagines her lover George Crane to be writing. But as Kitty arrives, the dream is on the edge of falling apart. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-Classification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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