Part Of The Furniture

Présentation de l'éditeur Early in 1941, having just seen off at Euston Station the two young men whom she has loved for the best part of her seventeen years, Juno Marlowe is hurrying down a London street with her ill-fitting shoes in her hands. Aeroplanes thunder overhead; a battery of guns opens up. When a stick of bombs falls she cowers, then takes to her heels in flight. She is rescued from this nightmare by a gaunt stranger, frail and older than his years; guiding her up his front steps, he offers her the protection of his house. Given this respite from the bleakness of an existence where she has no home and family to turn to, Juno encounters first tragedy, then a series of events that take her to a house in the West Country and the blossoming of an English Spring into which war only occasionally intrudes. Here she may find peace, here she will no longer just be part of the furniture. Mary Wesley s new novel, full of her customary warmth and joyful wit, encompasses all manner of emotion and experience with a striking clarity of sense and expression. Forming a triptych with her other wartime novels, The Camomile Lawn and A Sensible Life, this is one of her finest yet. Revue de presse "'With its brilliant final twist, this is Mary Wesley's best yet'" (Katie Campbell Evening Standard) "'Few novelists offer such a rich concoction of amoral spice and clverness; but to judge her work exclusively on this level is to miss more subtle rewards'" (Elizabeth Buchan Mail on Sunday) "'A real treat. Her new novel is her best yet. A warm, witty, lively book'" (Val Hennessy Daily Mail) "'A novel whose freshness of tone, energy of plotting and sweet nature make it exceptional by any standards'" (Eliza Charlton Sunday Telegraph) Quatrième de couverture Early in 1941, having just seen off at Euston Station the two young men whom she has loved for the best part of her seventeen years, Juno Marlowe is hurrying down a London street with her ill-fitting shoes in her hands. Aeroplanes thunder overhead; a battery of guns opens up. When a stick of bombs falls she cowers, then takes to her heels in flight. She is rescued from this nightmare by a gaunt stranger, frail and older than his years, and, as he guides her up his front stairs, he offers her the protection of his house. Given this respite from the bleakness of having no home and no family to turn to, Juno encounters first tragedy, then a series of events which take her to a house in the West Country and the blossoming of an English spring into which war only occasionally intrudes. Here she may find peace; here, at last, she will no longer be part of the furniture. Biographie de l'auteur Mary Wesley was born near Windsor in 1912. Her education took her to the London School of Economics and during the War she worked in the War Office. She also worked part-time in he antiques trade. Mary Wesley lived in London, France, Italy, Germany and several places in the West Country. She used to comment that her 'chief claim to fame is arrested development, getting my first novel published at the age of seventy'. That first novel, Jumping the Queue, is published by Black Swan, as are her later novels, The Camomile Lawn, Second Fiddle, Harnessing Peacocks, The Vacillations of Poppy Carew, Not That Sort of Girl, A Sensible Life, A Dubious Legacy, An Imaginative Experience and Part of the Furniture. With the help of Kim Sayer's evocative photographs Mary Wesley showed us her own personal West Country in her last book, Part of the Scenery. Mary Wesley was awarded the CBE in the 1995 New Year's honour list.