Before the War

Description

A novel of love, death and aristocracy in twenties London. Consider Vivien in November 1922. She is twenty-four, and a spinster. She wears fashionably droopy clothes, but she is plain and - worse - intelligent. Fortunately, Vivien is rich, so she can bribe a man to marry her. What nobody knows is that Vivien is pregnant, and will die in childbirth in just a few months...

Weldon's work includes more than twenty novels, five collections of short stories, several children's books, nonfiction books, magazine articles, and a number of plays written for television, radio, and the stage. She was awarded a CBE in 2001.

A romp of a read full of Weldon wit and wisdom, as well as sumptuous period detail * Daily Mail * Wise and witty... filled with sharp observations' * The Times * The quirky, singular writing style takes some getting used to, but this triumphs in the end with its unique characters and playfully ironic voice * The Irish Sun * A cool, sparkling, delicious book... This is one of those rare works of fiction that will make seasoned novelists gasp... while also offering the reader a breeze of a story' * The Australian * A daredevil combination of farce and satire... shades of Oscar Wilde, Evelyn Waugh, P. G. Wodehouse and John Fowles * TLS * Looking down at her cast from amused heights, Weldon punctures their pretensions and double standards with piquant observations, keeps a detached eye on the power politics of their relationships, but also caricatures them * Guardian * Lively... wry social satire' * New York Times * Weldon, still at the top of her powers, serves up elegant prose that is witty, ironic - and emotionally distanced * North & South magazine * If I had to recommend just one name to the uninformed young woman who curls her lip at the word "feminist" today, I would tell her to read Fay Weldon. Not only for Weldon's vision of gender justice, but for her take-no-prisoners approach to fiction. Her plots move swiftly; her gaze is unsettlingly direct; her sentences can draw blood * The Hindu. *