The Past
From the prize-winning Sunday Times bestseller
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3.6 • 9 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Rivalry, unruly desire and ugly secrets poison a family holiday in this gripping novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Free Love and Late in the Day.
'Few writers give me such consistent pleasure' Zadie Smith
Four siblings meet up in their grandparents' old house for three long, hot summer weeks. But under the idyllic surface lie shattering tensions.
Roland has come with his new wife, and his sisters don't like her. Fran has brought her children, who soon uncover an ugly secret in a ruined cottage in the woods. Alice has invited Kasim, an outsider, who makes plans to seduce Roland's teenage daughter. And Harriet, the eldest, finds her quiet self-possession ripped apart when passion erupts unexpectedly.
Over the course of the holiday, a familiar way of life falls apart forever.
'Exquisite' The Times
'Wonderful' Guardian
'Magnificent' Sunday Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Not much happens in this sixth novel from Hadley (Clever Girl), yet even its most quotidian events seem bathed in meaning and consequence. Set exclusively on the rambling grounds of a crumbling English cottage estate, the story follows four middle-aged siblings as they putter about their deceased grandparents' home for three weeks, deciding whether or not to sell it. Split into three acts two bookends that take place in the present, and one middle section that flashes back to their dead mother's brief return to the cottage during a tumultuous time in her marriage the book has the feeling of a disjointed structure. But like her previous works, it's Hadley's ability to probe the quirks of her characters' psyches that makes this novel exceptional. Whether it's the vain second-youngest sibling, Alice, and her habit of overcompensating for her brother's and sisters' inadequacies, or the introverted oldest sibling Hettie, and her secret obsession with her stuffy brother, Roland, and his sophisticated Argentinian wife (his third), Hadley has a knack for exposing each character's most pressing vulnerabilities. Of special note are the scenes involving the teenagers at the house Roland's 16-year-old daughter, Molly, and Alice's ex-boyfriend's college-age son, Kasim. The lovebirds' blooming infatuation with each other is palpable and awkward; it recalls the epic nature of falling helplessly, giddily in love for the first time. This is familial drama at its best unabashedly ordinary yet undoubtedly captivating.
Customer Reviews
Past mortem
Author
British novelist, short story writer, non-fiction writer Numerous awards and nominations. This one picked up a swag: the Windham Campbell Prize, a 'Washington Post' Best Book of the Year, a 'Time' magazine Best Book of the Year, a 'San Francisco Chronicle' Top 10 Book of the Year, a 'Huffington Post' Best Fiction Book of the Year, and a 'New York Times' Editors’ Choice. (whew!) In comparison to her previous work, Ms Hadley claimed this has, "a stronger narrative curve which drives us from the first page to the last.” Writing of Ms Hadley, no less luminary than Zadie Smith opined, "Few writers give me such consistent pleasure.” [see footnote]
Precis
Four middle aged siblings (three female, one male) meet at their late grandparents’ rural home over several weeks in summer. Selling the place and dividing the spoils of the estate is on the unwritten agenda. The male sibling brings his new wife - an attractive and intelligent Argentinian lawyer - which gets the sisters' kickers in a twist. Everyone tries to act cool as emotions heat up. A teenage child and a young male outsider - a protege of one sister - get it on.
Writing
Elegant, at times beautiful, prose. No characters I warmed to, which is okay because they probably wouldn't warm to me either. Slow moving (read glacial), predictable, and generally uninteresting.
Bottom line
I should have heeded the warning implicit in all that effusive critical praise and left this one on the shelf. I'll seek out Ms Hadley's work the next time I develop intractable insomnia.
Footnote
Zadie Smith needs to get out more, or invest in a better vibrator.