This book has been sat on my shelves for a few years now and I've definitely been avoiding it. I often struggle with books written around this time (1930s) and I wasn't sure it's something I'd like. In the end, it's not a book I hated, but it just wasn't for me.
Crampton Hodnet is set in a small town outside of Oxford. Its not-so-perfect inhabitants thrive on gossip and judgement. Whilst maintaining the facade of being kind and ideal neighbours, they're all looking for the latest scandal, and become very excited (though of course in their British manner they conceal it as concern) when one crops up.
I struggled to connect with the characters a bit, but I think this is largely in part because I'm not much of a fan of satire. The characters were a reflection of what people think these characters should be like: we had a member of the clergy finding celibacy a little too difficult, a housewife that lets an affair slide for an easy life, a husband with a wandering eye for a younger woman, and a spinster who won't quite admit she's sad to have missed out on marriage. It's meant to be a comedic book, and whilst there were some moments of dry humour, I just found it a bit of a dry read.
No comments:
Post a Comment