Lucy Beresford
Campus Affairs
There is something unsettling about an Alison Lurie novel, and Truth and Consequences is a good example. Initial impressions are of convention. There are no tricksy titles to the chapters, no postmodern self-conscious narrators, no drug-pushers, no faddish multiculturalism. Her characters have traditional names and do ordinary things: men eat ham sandwiches, and women wear shirt-waisters. You always feel you ought to know where you stand in Lurie World, and to some extent, by the end of her novels, you do. And yet her novels are deceptive. Her writing shocks in small ways, and the after-shocks linger.
A slipped disc in Alan Mackenzie’s back proves to be the trigger of the unravelling of his marriage to Jane. This marital collapse is depicted in minute detail, particularly Alan’s depression over his ongoing incapacity, and Jane’s guilt about her resentment of her new caregiver role. Into their enmeshed lives
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
‘We know that Ballard was many things – novelist, fabulist, one-time assistant editor of “British Baker”, seer of Shepperton, poet laureate of airports. But, it seems, he was not a fan of Mrs Dalloway.’
Joanna Kavenna - Unlimited Dream Company
Joanna Kavenna: Unlimited Dream Company - Selected Nonfiction, 1962-2007 by J G Ballard (Edited by Mark Blacklock)
literaryreview.co.uk
“Remember when being Bono was uncool?” I’m back in my favourite lit mag @Lit_Review for their Christmas special, writing about Lou Reed and his new biography: https://literaryreview.co.uk/walks-on-the-wild-side
'Lord of the Flies meets The 120 Days of Sodom.' Some thoughts on the decline and fall of India’s Princely States for @Lit_Review: