I discovered this early work of Jane Gardam's in the library. I wasn't disappointed. An elderly clergyman dies whereupon his widow palms their children off onto various friends and acquaintances for the summer. It's a rites of passage book. Perceptive and funny. The characters are a delight, especially the mother who assumes that people exist to do whatever she asks and so constantly finds they fall rather short of her expectations.
(Jenny Baker - bwl 12 January 2002 ) |
