Mr. Scobie's Riddle

Elizabeth Jolley

ISBN 10: 014006656X / ISBN 13: 9780140066562

Published by penguin, 1983

About this Item

'Startlingly good. It divines riddles of mortality.' The Age Mr Scobie's arrival at the nursing home of St Christopher and St Jude - and descent into the clutches of Matron Hyacinth Price - is accidental. Adrift in his own memories but preserving a gentle politesse, Mr Scobie stands apart from the others. For long-term resident and eccentric, Miss Hailey, he represents a kindred spirit; for Matron Price - a lady of questionable practices - the latest victim. This bleakly comic investigation of old age, exile and displacement shows Elizabeth Jolley at her finest. It is written with wry humour, melancholy and great warmth. Winner of The Age Book of the Year 1993. 1983, First edition. A very good copy only marked by light age tanning of the pages and a previous owners details on the first page.

Seller Inventory # 20346200

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Mr. Scobie's Riddle
• Publisher: penguin
• Publication Date: 1983
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 014006656X
• ISBN 13: 9780140066562
• Binding: Paperback

About this title

Synopsis

Mr Scobie's arrival at the nursing home of St Christopher and St Jude-and into the clutches of Matron Hyacinth Price-is accidental. Self educated and still preserving the gist of idyllic memeory and wish, Mr Scobie stands apart from the others. For long term resident and eccentric, Miss Hailey, he represents a kindred spirit; for Matron Price-a lady of questionable practices-the latest victim...
But unwittingly Mr Scobie has some recourse-his very simple riddle. Its answer-an ancient commonplace-jolts Matron Price.
Yet it is Mr Scobie's nephew, Hartley, and the group of nocturnal poker players, who ultimately change Matron Price's establishment.

About the Author

Elizabeth Jolley (1923-2007) is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers, with a formidable international reputation, and during the 1980s and 1990s was widely acclaimed with a wide readership in the U. S. Born in England in 1923, she was brought up in a strict, German-speaking household and attended a Quaker boarding school. She became a nurse, married, and with three children moved to Western Australia in 1959. Although she wrote all her life, it was not until she was in her fifties that her books started to receive the recognition they deserved. Her work won every major award in Australia, and was several times selected as a New York Times Notable Book. Excerpts from her novels (including Cabin Fever, Book 2 in the Trilogy) were published in The New Yorker. Her novels include The Sugar Mother, Foxybaby, Miss Peabody's Inheritance, and Mr. Scobie's Riddle. Elizabeth Jolley died in 2007.