This book turned out to be a delightful surprise. It's essentially about an author writing the biography of another author. But the search for facts becomes personal and revealing. Lovely! ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about a biographer, the Mark in the title. He is writing a biography of a respected writer now dead and whose grand-daughter lives in his last house and runs a garden centre there, while the friends of society look after the writers study / library / papers etc. From the novel you get a sense of the process of writing a biography and the hard graft of research before pen is put to paper so to speak. Mark's wife, Diana, works in a gallery and is a planner who likes to be in control. It is not surprising when Mark falls for the grand-daughter but Penelope Lively takes the reader through various twists and turns of the relationships of the different characters, as well as Mark's relationship with the biography he is researching and the eminent writer in a charming and engaging way that I enjoyed. The section in France has an excellent sense of place and worked well and the section in Porlock when Mark was staying with the elderly man was very sympathetic. Well written. ( )

This is a very interesting and thought-provoking novel. On one level it tells the story of a biographer's mid-life crisis, but it addresses deeper questions about the nature of experience, memory, truth and fiction, as the writer's experiences, thoughts and perceptions are contrasted with those of his subject, and he begins to question how his own life will be remembered. A rewarding book reminiscent of A.S. Byatt (I was reminded of elements of Possession and The Biographer's Tale, but this book preceded both of those). ( )

This is a hard book to review for me, probably because I did not get all the nuances of the characters' relationships. But, just from the point of view of characters and a sense of place, the book was very interesting. The scenes as various characters drive through France are riveting. And all the while the characters are evolving in unexpected ways. Looking forward to reading more by Penelope Lively. ( )

I am a fan of Penelope Lively so I couldn't resist this on a recent visit to my favourite 2nd hand bookshop.

From the back of the book:
"A respected literary biographer, Mark is working on the life of Gilbert Strong - a writer about whom he thinks he knows everything. A happily married man, dedicated to a life of letters, he nevertheless manages to fall in love with Strong's grand-daughter, a vague and unsophisticated young woman more interested in bedding plants and alpines than books or passion. As the summer of Mark's obsession steams along, he begins to understand that nothing is ever exactly what it seems - certainly not Gilbert strong. And certainly not himself"

Penelope Lively is now confirmed as one of my favourite writers. This is essentially another examination of memory and perception, a theme she touches on time and again in her novels and her non-fiction. To some extent the plot and the characters as described above are incidental and what is important is their history and their memories, explored through their perceptions of Gilbert Strong, who has affected all their lives. Mark is trying to find the truth of a disjointed multi-faceted life and realises eventually that what is known is only the tip of the iceberg.

Despite what I have said of plot and characters being almost incidental, her characters are still wonderfully observed and the plot interesting. I love the way that she writes, she has a wonderful turn of phrase and has the ability to make me think for hours over a single sentence.
For example: "It takes staggering powers of detachment to accept that other people's view of you might be more reliable than your own."

Add to all that the knowledge that if I read this book four more times in quick succession I will still not know everything about it or understand all the nuances, makes for a great book in my opinion. ( )