Book Review
May. 24th, 2010 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThe Last of Summer
by Kate O'Brien
This quiet yet wonderful novel takes place in Ireland at the end of the summer of 1939. It centers around Angele Maury, a young French actress who takes a detour during a trip to visit her deceased father's side of the family at their estate in a small village. She becomes close to her cousins Tom, Martin, and Jo, but clashes with their mother, her aunt Hannah. Martin and Tom both fall in love with Angele, and her reciprocal feelings for one of them causes further conflict with Hannah.
The Last of Summer is beautifully written and has something of the texture and feeling of the best 19th century novels while being thoroughly of its own time. O'Brien does an amazing job of weaving in the tensions and anxieties created by the coming of war into the story, and even using them as a parallel for the emotional ecstasies, upheavals, and conflicts among the main characters. All of the characters are very well-drawn, and their interactions and relationships portrayed with keen insight.
by Kate O'Brien
This quiet yet wonderful novel takes place in Ireland at the end of the summer of 1939. It centers around Angele Maury, a young French actress who takes a detour during a trip to visit her deceased father's side of the family at their estate in a small village. She becomes close to her cousins Tom, Martin, and Jo, but clashes with their mother, her aunt Hannah. Martin and Tom both fall in love with Angele, and her reciprocal feelings for one of them causes further conflict with Hannah.
The Last of Summer is beautifully written and has something of the texture and feeling of the best 19th century novels while being thoroughly of its own time. O'Brien does an amazing job of weaving in the tensions and anxieties created by the coming of war into the story, and even using them as a parallel for the emotional ecstasies, upheavals, and conflicts among the main characters. All of the characters are very well-drawn, and their interactions and relationships portrayed with keen insight.
