"Internal Affairs" by Jill Tweedie
One of my Christmas books. A very funny novel about the politics of doing good in the third world--many great satiric passages.
"Plato Park" by Carol Rumens
Quite a well known British poet apparently but I believe this is her only novel...too bad! About a British girl and a Russian man who have a brief liaison while she accompanies her father to Russia while he is attending a conference. Later the girl and man defect to each other's countries. What they mainly have in common is "domophobia" -- a restless dissatisfaction with home. An interesting portrait of Russia in the 70's and 80's. Seems like bad choices on both parts.
"Girl from the South" by Joanna Trollope
A really very charming, light and yet thought-provoking book in a quiet way. Captures the tradition bound "old South" and "Swinging London". About contemporary people who have families and don't seem to want them and those who don't eventually wanting them and all sorts of things inbetween. Probably everyone does live "happily ever after" but not in traditional ways they thought they would.
I did love the mess and chaos of Britain contrassted with the "everything in its place" old South. The images of these small British children running loose and banging on the bulletproof glass was wonderful--all the while the parents and workers completely focused on their restoration work and painting.
A quote from Chapter 6:
"...the wife a botanical artist of extraordinary precision appeared oblivious to her house, and, largely, to her children....
the house had exploded out of control like a giant creeper."
"Gillon was expecting a professional place of business....What she found was a converted garage behind a terraced north London house from which serveral small Hopkirk children constantly emerged to stand breathing and shouting against the glass door...The glass itself was smeared with lick and fingerprints up to four feet from the ground. After a few days Gillon grew almost used to the semi-permanent frieze of flattened noses and tongues and palms against the glass. "The seventh circle of Hell, really,' Stephen said comfortably.
