Items related to A Corner of Paradise: A Love Story (with the usual...
A charming and unconventional love story from Costa prize-winning memoirist Brian Thompson.
In 1973, the recently divorced Brian Thompson had his first kiss with Elizabeth North in a supermarket car park on the Oxford ring road. From a tiny Harrogate terrace, stuffed to the brim with their various offspring, to a run-down deeply un-picturesque French farmhouse, where they spent their summers, this is the story of their unexpected life together -- a relationship which baffled many, not least Brian and Liz -- until her death, aged 78.
Liz was intensely and determinedly solitary, and Brian's devotion to her complete, if occasionally misunderstood. Both writers, their styles, ambitions and careers were as wildly different as their reading habits (her: twentieth-century female novelists; him: any non-fiction that might broaden his mind). But all these differences coalesced into that rare thing -- a love stronger than themselves, and certainly firmer than the DIY pergola tottering precariously in their concrete garden at Breuil.
Perhaps their partnership was always going to be 'an exercise in asymmetry' -- she the pipe-smoking daughter of a Commodore, he the descendant of Cockney eccentrics. Yet, despite (or perhaps because of) the conflicts, Brian and Liz emerge in this happy, heartrending memoir, as a couple who were lucky enough to find their corner of paradise in each other.
In 1973, the recently divorced Brian Thompson had his first kiss with Elizabeth North in a supermarket car park on the Oxford ring road. From a tiny Harrogate terrace, stuffed to the brim with their various offspring, to a run-down deeply un-picturesque French farmhouse, where they spent their summers, this is the story of their unexpected life together -- a relationship which baffled many, not least Brian and Liz -- until her death, aged 78.
Liz was intensely and determinedly solitary, and Brian's devotion to her complete, if occasionally misunderstood. Both writers, their styles, ambitions and careers were as wildly different as their reading habits (her: twentieth-century female novelists; him: any non-fiction that might broaden his mind). But all these differences coalesced into that rare thing -- a love stronger than themselves, and certainly firmer than the DIY pergola tottering precariously in their concrete garden at Breuil.
Perhaps their partnership was always going to be 'an exercise in asymmetry' -- she the pipe-smoking daughter of a Commodore, he the descendant of Cockney eccentrics. Yet, despite (or perhaps because of) the conflicts, Brian and Liz emerge in this happy, heartrending memoir, as a couple who were lucky enough to find their corner of paradise in each other.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
BRIAN THOMPSON was born in London in 1935 and now lives in Oxford. He has written two award-winning volumes of memoir: Keeping Mum, winner of the Costa Prize for Biography and the PEN/Ackerley Prize, and Clever Girl, longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. He is also the author of the Bella Wallis mystery series.
Review:
"A joyous, life-and-love-affirming account " -- Rachel Joyce The Times "A portrait of love and grief, both witty and tender" Independent "A beguiling mosaic of incidents and anecdotes... Writing of real charm and humour" Sunday Times "Thompson is a terrific memoirist - wry, vivid and with one eye trained unforgivingly on his own failings... A beautifully written, deeply affecting book" Daily Mail "A beguiling mosaic of anecdotes... Real charm and humour" -- Nick Rennison Sunday Times
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- PublisherChatto & Windus
- Publication date2013
- ISBN 10 0701188022
- ISBN 13 9780701188023
- BindingHardcover
- Number of pages224
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