I have not been hugely successful with my recent picks. Everything has sounded so intriguing but then once I started reading nothing has been able to hold my attention. The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden had been praised by other bloggers but its tepid prose and rather unimaginative plot did nothing for me.
It was all much ado about nothing for most of the novel. With their mother sick in hospital, thirteen-year old Cecil Grey (a girl, despite her name) and her siblings are left to their own devices at Les Oeillets, the French hotel where they are vacationing. But the Greys are not the hotel’s only residents. Most importantly, there is also Mademoiselle Zizi, the owner of the hotel, and her charming English lover, Eliot, who becomes the children’s de facto guardian while their mother is ill. And, of course, there is Cecil’s suddenly beautiful sixteen-year old sister Joss…
The tension that is supposedly the allure of the novel is non-existent. Eliot is a suspicious character from his first introduction and the heavy-handed hints dropped throughout the short novel make certain there is no surprise as the novel reaches its climax. His brief and rather innocent flirtation with Joss causes the most conflict but, again, it is predictable and tiresome. Not even the arrival of the police could generate any excitement as I forced through to the conclusion.
I didn’t find any of the main characters particularly interesting or sympathetic – the only character I liked and wanted to know more about was the loathed Uncle William, too dull and conservative to provoke any affection in the children until he comes to their rescue.
Obviously, this was not a great success with me. Reading it, I felt much as I did when reading Rosamund Lehmann’s Invitation to the Waltz earlier this year: a promising premise that never did anything to elevate itself beyond the humdrum. All the ingredients were there to make it an interesting story: quirky, temporarily parentless-children, a narrator on the cusp of adulthood, a jealous, exotic Frenchwoman, a dashing, mysterious leading man…But a good story is more than just the sum of its parts and this one left me cold.
I’m still willing to give Godden another try but not sure which of her many books to try. In This House of Brede seems to come highly recommended but I can’t work up much enthusiasm for the tale of a professional woman who joins a cloistered Benedictine community. I had wanted to try The Peacock Spring, but my library doesn’t seem to carry it. Perhaps it would be best to go with Godden’s A Time to Dance, No Time to Weap, the first volume of her memoirs. Non-fiction is often so much more interesting than fiction, I find.
What a disappointment! I have read great things of this too and actually bought a lovely original copy just before I left England. I’ll go in with slightly lowered expectations now. It’s interesting how sometimes a book can just seem cliched and dull despite it’s interesting plot. I’m sure I’ve had that experience before. When I’ve been waiting for something to happen and nothing ever did. Wait! Yes, it was A Note in Music, another Lehmann. Interesting that we both made that comparison!
I always feel like I’m disappointing all the other bloggers who really enjoy a book when I feel this way and, because of them, I really did try to like this. I just couldn’t – it was missing that spark which captures the imagination.
I’m starting to think that maybe there are just those who like Lehmann and Godden and those who don’t.
I feel that way sometimes when I’m writing a review, but I also realize that quite a few bloggers have prevented me from wasting time and money on books that were just sort of meh (Howards End is on the Landing). I appreciate it when people give honest and well-thought reviews like this.
I couldn’t agree with you more about The Greengage Summer, and I like Godden. It was just flat and I could give a fuzzy monkey’s arse when the ending finally came about. I did love The Peacock Spring, but I read it as a rather romantic teenager and I think my view may be a bit hazy. But This House of Brede really was a remarkable read.
Too bad the premise didn’t result in an engaging novel! I hadn’t heard of this one before, though I would probably have picked it up from the cover alone 😉
Hope you have more luck with your reading choices soon!
I know lots of other bloggers really enjoyed it when they did a group read last year, but it just wasn’t for me.
I’m rereading an old favourite right now, so my luck with choices has definitely improved!
It’s disappointing when reading turns out to be such hard work. The premise sounds like it could have been a winner. Hope the next one is a goodie!
I really hate those types of bad spells and often wonder if the problem is my or the book or just simple bad timing 🙂
That’s exactly how I feel! That’s also why I’ve been so slow writing my reviews: I’ve been hoping that maybe I’d wake up one day and realise that really it was just me and the book was better than I initially thought, so I shouldn’t be so harsh when I review it. Obviously, such an awakening has not happened.
It sounds like this was a huge disappointment! I do hope you find something that you enjoy to read soon.
I’ve moved on to some vastly superior books that are making me very happy indeed!
I couldn’t warm up to Lehmann’s Dusty Answer and I really wanted to.
I haven’t tried Dusty Answer, just Invitation to the Waltz, but I’m not particularly eager to read any more of her books after that lacklustre experienc.
I hadn’t heard of this book or the author before reading this post, but then I was finishing up Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks yesterday and read “Rumer Godden” in a list of author’s names that she had read — little serendipitous? 🙂
I love when that happens! Reading serendipity is so exciting.
If it makes any difference, there are a number of Rumer Godden’s books for grown-ups that do nothing for me. When she’s good, she’s really great, but many of her books don’t impress me. If you don’t fancy reading about nuns (though In This House of Brede really is excellent), my other favorite of hers is A Candle for St. Jude. I promise it’s good. 🙂
If I decide to give Godden a second try, I’ll definitely keep your recommendations in mind!