According to Queeney - Hardcover

Bainbridge, Beryl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786707739 ISBN 13: 9780786707737

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2001

Synopsis

Bainbridge's brilliantly imagined, universally acclaimed, Booker Prize–longlisted novel portrays the inordinate appetites and unrequited love touched off when the most celebrated man of eighteenth-century English letters, Samuel Johnson, enters the domain of a wealthy Southwark brewer and his wife, Hester Thrale. The melancholic, middle-aged lexicographer plunges into an increasingly ambiguous relationship with the vivacious Mrs. Thrale for the next twenty years. In that time Hester's eldest daughter, the neglected but prodigiously clever Queeney, will grow into young womanhood. Along the way, little of the emotional tangle and sexual tension stirring beneath the decorous surfaces of the Thrale household will escape Queeney's cold, observant eye. "A dark, often hilarious and deeply human vision ... a major literary accomplishment."—Margaret Atwood, Toronto Globe and Mail "....at the end of this luminous little novel ... we feel two losses ... the personal one and the loss to civilization."—Richard Bernstein, New York Times "Dialogue and descriptions subtly and skillfully convey a sense not only of the period but also the personalities."—Merle Rubin, Los Angeles Times "[Bainbridge's] most accomplished novel so far."—Washington Post Book World "Majestically deft.... Absolutely wonderful."—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

About this title

About the Author:

Beryl Bainbridge wrote seventeen novels, two travel books and five plays for stage and television, she was shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times, and won literary awards including the Whitbread Prize and the Author of the Year Award at the British Book Awards. She died in July 2010.

From AudioFile:

In this outstanding historical novel, Beryl Bainbridge, a five-time nominee for Britain's Booker Prize, continues thoughtfully and logically to reconstruct history. This time we are privy to the last twenty years in the life of Samuel Johnson, not according to Boswell, but ACCORDING TO QUEENEY, the daughter of Johnson's final confidante, Mrs. Thrale. Queeney's droll observations level the adult world's pretensions. Miriam Margolyes converts Johnson's metaphorical "black dog crouching on the landing" into a palpable thing, rather than the chimera it is. Johnson's preoccupation with his own melancholy and his tendency toward masochism are subtly developed by Bainbridge, and brought to life with equal finesse by Margolyes. The union of author, subject, and performance makes this a memorable literary event. Fascinating storytelling. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0786707739
• ISBN 13: 9780786707737
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224