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By Carol She's S… , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah! · 13 posts · 54 views
By Carol She's S… , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah! · 13 posts · 54 views
last updated Apr 05, 2024 11:48AM
Northbridge Rectory 5th of July 2025 read Spoiler thread!
By Carol She's S… , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah! · 8 posts · 15 views
By Carol She's S… , She's a mod, yeah, yeah, yeah! · 8 posts · 15 views
last updated Jul 23, 2025 01:17PM
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By Tadiana ✩Nigh… · 1488 posts · 313 views
last updated Jul 09, 2023 07:12PM
What Members Thought

This 1930 British novel is a witty and often very insightful story, somewhat a coming-of-age novel about a young woman, Ann Laventie. Ann is from an intellectual, snobbish and rather pretentious family, just wealthy enough to consider themselves above all of their neighbors in Sussex. Ann is the youngest and doesn't quite fit the family mold. She's more down to earth and caring about others' feelings than her siblings and father (her mother is an invalid and pretty much a non-entity; until the v
...more

May 24, 2021
Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
humour,
vintage-retro-romance
Firstly, thanks to my very good Goodreads friend, Abigail, for sending me a copy of this book. I enjoyed it very much!
Abigail is a retired proofreader, & all the typos & missed punctuation obviously drove her bonkers as she has put little proofreaders marks right through the book! 😊 Was the original this poorly edited or have the mistakes crept in on this edition? I guess I'll never know!
Still need to give Dean Street Press big ups for rescuing this gem from obscurity - it was Ms Sharp's first b ...more
Abigail is a retired proofreader, & all the typos & missed punctuation obviously drove her bonkers as she has put little proofreaders marks right through the book! 😊 Was the original this poorly edited or have the mistakes crept in on this edition? I guess I'll never know!
Still need to give Dean Street Press big ups for rescuing this gem from obscurity - it was Ms Sharp's first b ...more

3.5
This is Margery Sharp's debut novel, which is now readily available at a sensible price thanks to Furrowed Middlebrow. There had been quite a lot of excitement about this release, so I was keen to start it. The subject matter is one that usually appeals to me, that of a bohemian family, set in the 20th century. Like Guard Your Daughters or The Fountain Overflows. I didn't like this one as much as those, the character didn't come to life for me in the same way. I think also, that a lot of the ...more
This is Margery Sharp's debut novel, which is now readily available at a sensible price thanks to Furrowed Middlebrow. There had been quite a lot of excitement about this release, so I was keen to start it. The subject matter is one that usually appeals to me, that of a bohemian family, set in the 20th century. Like Guard Your Daughters or The Fountain Overflows. I didn't like this one as much as those, the character didn't come to life for me in the same way. I think also, that a lot of the ...more

Apr 25, 2021
Susan in NC
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kindle,
tbr-with-gr-groups
3.5-4 stars - GR very annoyingly ate my review- posted yesterday, trying to clean up THREE editions showing as having been read. I deleted two, one of them with review attached!
Oh well. Story of affected, snobbish Essex family, youngest daughter feels unworthy of her sophisticated siblings, a lazy, selfish sculptor brother (his work didn’t appear very good, from Ann’s inner monologue when touring his studio), and an elder sister who wrote serious essays (and did not appear to have an ounce of hu ...more
Oh well. Story of affected, snobbish Essex family, youngest daughter feels unworthy of her sophisticated siblings, a lazy, selfish sculptor brother (his work didn’t appear very good, from Ann’s inner monologue when touring his studio), and an elder sister who wrote serious essays (and did not appear to have an ounce of hu ...more

I enjoyed this book tremendously. It is light and fluffy on the surface, but filled with wit and humour and insightful comments on human nature. The story concerns the youngest daughter of a wealthy, educated and eccentric family. As much as she tries, she just can't adapt herself to thinking and behaving in accordance with the way her family functions. (The title refers to the fact that for her birthday, she is served pie filled with rhododendron blossoms, when what she really wants is plain ol
...more

I loved Miss Bianca and Bernard in The Rescuers, but never realised that the author also wrote for adults. This was her first book and it is a gem. The Laventie family is different from the neighbours - more intellectual and artistic according to their own views. Ann has always accepted this as the truth, but then she visits her sister in London and her perception of herself and the family changes. Well-written and a lovely read.

Slow start but ends very well
You have wade through a bit of setup to get to the glorious, funny romance at the end but it is worth it. Margery Sharp's descriptions are vivid and compelling; her dialog sharp and witty especially between Ann's final beau (won't tell you who).
The romance is also wrapped in more than boy-meets-girl. It is about maturity, petty snobbery, and becoming oneself. ...more
You have wade through a bit of setup to get to the glorious, funny romance at the end but it is worth it. Margery Sharp's descriptions are vivid and compelling; her dialog sharp and witty especially between Ann's final beau (won't tell you who).
The romance is also wrapped in more than boy-meets-girl. It is about maturity, petty snobbery, and becoming oneself. ...more

May 14, 2021
Peggy
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction-vintage,
owned-tbr

Apr 06, 2021
Tuesdayschild
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
should-i,
to-purchase


Apr 30, 2021
Petra
marked it as to-read

Apr 30, 2021
Mitzi
marked it as to-read

May 01, 2021
Allegra
marked it as to-read

May 03, 2021
Anne
marked it as to-read

