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Book Review
Feb. 3rd, 2022 01:13 pmSpiderweb
by Penelope Lively
This short novel is set in rural England and centers around Stella, a retired anthropologist who has decided to settle in a village after a life of fieldwork. Strongly independent and unused to really belonging anywhere, she does not easily fit herself into village life. Instead, Stella observes the relationships and social interactions of her new home in the same detached manner she applied to her fieldwork. She also remembers her past, the places she lived and worked, and her friends and lovers. Interspersed with and contrasted against Stella's story are glimpses of the lives of the disaffected and destructive teenage sons of the volatile and dysfunctional family that live down the lane from Stella.
Spiderweb is a very character-driven novel in which not that much happens but the book remains interesting. It's not the best of Lively's novels that I've read, but it does have its moments.
by Penelope Lively
This short novel is set in rural England and centers around Stella, a retired anthropologist who has decided to settle in a village after a life of fieldwork. Strongly independent and unused to really belonging anywhere, she does not easily fit herself into village life. Instead, Stella observes the relationships and social interactions of her new home in the same detached manner she applied to her fieldwork. She also remembers her past, the places she lived and worked, and her friends and lovers. Interspersed with and contrasted against Stella's story are glimpses of the lives of the disaffected and destructive teenage sons of the volatile and dysfunctional family that live down the lane from Stella.
Spiderweb is a very character-driven novel in which not that much happens but the book remains interesting. It's not the best of Lively's novels that I've read, but it does have its moments.
