The master bedroom : a novel / Tessa Hadley.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780805080766
- ISBN: 0805080767
- Physical Description: 339 p. ; 22 cm.
- Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : Henry Holt and Co., 2007.
Search for related items by subject
Genre: | Welsh fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at South Interlake Regional Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stonewall Library | FIC HADLEY (Text) | 1000085040 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
More information
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2007 May #2
Dissipated and dreary, much like her family's ancestral estate in the Welsh countryside, Kate Flynn's life has slumped dangerously out of control. After jettisoning her once-promising academic career and intoxicating London lifestyle to return to Cardiff to care for her senile mother, Kate despairs of her self-imposed exile until a chance encounter with the brother of a childhood friend promises a glimmer of hope. For his part, David, too, suffers from a pervasive malaise: his first wife committed suicide; his second marriage is disintegrating; and his teenage son, Jamie, is growing increasingly secretive and distant. Introduced to Kate as someone who could tell him about the mother he never knew, Jamie is immediately attracted to Kate's sophisticated ways and soon insinuates himself into her bohemian home, where he unwittingly joins his father as a rival for her affections. Melancholy and starkly emotive, Hadley's enervating tale evokes the raw drama that lies at the emotional nexus between friends and lovers, husbands and wives, parents and children. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2007 June #2
Midlife is tough enough without moving back to your hometown to care for your mother, who is succumbing to dementia. Having taken a leave from her London teaching position, Kate Flynn is now in Cardiff, Wales, living with mom Billie in Firenze, their now dilapidated ancestral villa. She reconnects with best friend Carol and, ultimately, with David, Carol's younger brother. David's first wife, Francesca, committed suicide years earlier. Left with his young son, Jamie, David eventually married Suzie and had two more children. But Suzie is suddenly acting strangely, and David is bewildered by his now 17-year-old son. David runs into Kate at a concert, and their mutual interest in classical music seems like an omen to him. Discovering that Kate knew his mother, Jamie also gravitates toward Firenze and lands in an affair in that rarely used bedroom. Unfortunately, Kate is the least sympathetic character in this latest from Hadley (Everything Will Be All Right ). She is gruff with poor Billie (always has been, really), dismissive yet needy of Jamie's attentions, and unable to acknowledge David's feelings. Despite generally fine writing, this novel suffers from this major flaw; an optional purchase for large fiction collections.âBette-Lee Fox, Library Journal
[Page 56]. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2007 April #2
This dreamy and thoughtful third novel from Hadley (Everything Will Be Alright and Accidents in the Home ) chronicles the slow-burning midlife crisis of Kate Flynn. A cigarette-smoking, high-heelâwearing Russian lit. prof, Kate has given up frittering among the London intelligentsia to move back to Wales and care for her aging mother, Billie. Against the backdrop of wintry Cardiff, Kate contends with her rekindled desire for David Roberts, now a married public health doctor. She simultaneously attempts to ward off the infatuated advances of David's teenage son, Jamie. As all concerned cavort provokingly, Hadley sympathizes with her quirky, stubborn characters and impulsive protagonist without excusing them, and the simmering love triangle between David, his son and Kate keeps the placid storytelling from falling into a meditative lull. (July)
[Page 28]. Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.