This 'novel' reads more like autobiography (as Bedford's afterword admits). The child Billi is shuttled from Germany to Italy, to London, to the South of France, picking up what education she can from ravenous reading and the conversation of intellectuals and artists settled in the Midi between the wars. Central in this atmospheric evocation of a lost age is Billi's evolving relationship with her brilliant, unmaternal and ultimately tragic mother. Fascinating, powerful and moving.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 39 April 2007 ) |
