Penelope Lively je autorkou mnohých ocenených románov a poviedkových zbierok pre dospelých aj deti. Jej tvorba sa často zameriava na témy pamäti, času a spôsobu, akým minulosť ovplyvňuje súčasnosť. Lively skúma zložitosť ľudských vzťahov a vnútorný život postáv s prenikavým postrehom. Jej štýl je známy svojou eleganciou, úspornosťou a schopnosťou vyvolať silné emócie.
Claudia Hampton is dying. As memories crowd in, she re-creates the mosiac of her life, her own story enmeshed with those of her brother, her lover and father of her daughter, and the centre of her life, Tom, her one great love both found and lost in the "mad fairyland" of war-torn Egypt.
Penelope Lively has always been a keen gardener. This book is partly a memoir of her own life in gardens- the large garden at home in Cairo where she spent most of her childhood, her grandmother's garden in a sloping Somerset field, then two successive Oxfordshire gardens of her own, and the smaller urban garden in the North London home she lives in today. It is also a wise, engaging and far-ranging exploration of gardens in literature, from Paradise Lostto Alice in Wonderland, and of writers and their gardens, from Virginia Woolf to Philip Larkin.
Současná britská spisovatelka, nositelka řady prestižních cen, se ve svém románu zamýšlí nad láskou v mnoha jejích podobách. Na konci světa se nazývá jistá usedlost na britském venkově, kde tráví horké letní měsíce Pauline, redaktorka středních let, a její dcera Tereza se svou rodinou. Zatímco Tereza pečuje o malého Luka, její manžel Maurice zde dokončuje práci na své knize. Na první pohled idyla, ale jak se ukáže, jen zdánlivá. Pauline rediguje rukopisy, ale zároveň přemýšlí o rodině své dcery. Srovnává vlastní osud s osudem Terezy, kterou by ráda uchránila před chybami a omyly, kterých se kdysi dopustila ona sama. Z různých náznaků Pauline vycítí blížící se krizi dřív, než kdokoli jiný. Citlivě reaguje na napětí ve vzájemných vztazích, které s postupujícím horkým létem stoupá, až vyvrcholí tragédií.
This anthology of new writing promotes contemporary literature of the English language from Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth. It contains new names among older, recognizable names and includes short stories, poems, novels in progress and short fiction.
Clare's grandfather brought back a shield from New Guinea seventy years ago, and now Clare's dreams are haunted by images of New Guinea. It is up to her to lay the ghost of an encounter between a Victorian anthropologist and a Stone Age New Guinea tribe to rest. First published in 1974.
Frances, happily married for many years, and suddenly plunged into mourning. Her international celebrity husband Steve has died leaving her unprepared and vulnerable. This title illuminates two terrifying taboos of the twentieth- century - death and grief.
Wry, compassionate and glittering with wit, Penelope Lively's stories get beneath the everyday to the beating heart of human experience. In intimate tales of growing up and growing old, chance encounters and life-long relationships, Lively explores with keen insight the ways that individuals can become tangled in history, and how small acts ripple through the generations. With two new never-before-published stories alongside treasures from her early writing days, Metamorphosis showcases the very best from a literary master.
"A glimmering collection of new short fiction from the Booker Prize winner "Lively writes with an astringent blend of sympathy and detachment, emotional wisdom and satiric wit."--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times In such acclaimed novels as The Photograph, Family Album, and How It All Began, Penelope Lively has captivated readers with her singular blend of wisdom, elegance, and humor. Now, in her first story collection in decades, Lively takes up themes of history, family, and relationships across varied and vividly rendered settings. In the title story, a Mediterranean purple swamp hen chronicles the secrets and scandals of Quintus Pompeius's villa, culminating with his narrow escape from the lava and ash of Vesuvius. "Abroad" captures the low point of an artist couple's tumultuous European road trip, trapped in a remote Spanish farmhouse and forced to paint a family mural and pitch in with chores to pay for repairs to their broken-down car. Other stories reveal friends and lovers in fateful moments of indiscretion, discovery, and even retribution--as in "The Third Wife," when a woman learns her husband is a serial con artist and turns a house-hunting trip into an elaborately staged revenge trap. Each of these delightful stories is elevated by Lively's signature graceful prose and eye for the subtle yet powerfully evocative detail. Wry, charming, and keenly insightful, The Purple Swamp Hen and Other Stories is a masterful achievement from one of our most beloved writers"-- Provided by publisher
A seventeenth-century sorcerer emerges in an old house as a poltergeist and targets James as his apprentice.
