19-year-old Harriet Morton has grown up in a cold, dark, joyless house with her father and his sister:
Number 37 Scroope Terrace, off the Trumpington Road, was a house where 'Waste Not Want Not' was the motto. Louisa Morton counted the fish-knives on Thursdays and the silver plate on Saturdays and kept in her bedroom a box labeled 'String too short to tie'. Though the Professor had a substantial private income in addition to his salary, she had been heard to upbraid the cook for the unbridled expenditure of three farthings on an ounce of parsley.
Her only real moments of happiness occur in ballet class. When she is offered employment in a ballet company that is set to travel to South America, her father forbids it. At first, she is resigned to obey him. A chance meeting with a little boy changes her mind, and she runs away to join the ballet.
But her father and the man who wants to marry her aren't far behind.
Absolutely perfect vacation reading. Not deep, not profound, just lots of swoony romance, rotten relations, Marcus Aurelius, ballet*, and off-screen sex.
Oh, and a lady-jumping-out-of-a-cake scene.
It was so much fun that I refused to put it down—I was so intent on finishing that Josh and I had to leave for Kalamazoo an hour later than planned. It was worth it. (To me, anyway. Josh did a bit of pacing.)
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*Totally enjoyed all of those bits, and I'm not even huge into ballet. It made me want to go and watch some, though. (And, no, I'm not talking about re-watching Suspiria.) I'll have to look into it—it's been years since I've gone.
ABT's fall season starts the end of October, wanna come visit?
Posted by: cc | 12 September 2007 at 01:00 PM
Oooh I just loved it. Greek AND awful academics AND ballet? It's too much.
Also, in my 3rd rereading I've come to decide that almost my favorite part is how sheerly awful her father is.
Posted by: cc | 12 September 2007 at 01:01 PM
That might have to happen -- I've been thinking lately that I could maybe handle The City again.
He's SUCH a beast. And I loved what happened to her first beau. All the way through, I thought of how it was pretty much the perfect book for you.
Posted by: Leila | 12 September 2007 at 01:35 PM
Aaaah man, jealous jealous jealous! I can't see it in print in the UK so I'm hoping for a new edition orrr for the amazon marketplace listings to go somewhat down from £60. SERIOUSLY.
Posted by: anna | 13 September 2007 at 07:30 PM
On my recent vacation I found this at a used bookstore in Okehampton (go figure) for £1.50. I was so excited! (Sorry Anna. I guess they didn't know what they had.)
My only complaint is with the ending. (*SPOILERISH*) I mean, I got a huge kick out of it anyway, but afterwards I spent quite some time replotting it in my head so Harriet could rescue her damn self.
Posted by: Electric Landlady | 12 October 2007 at 04:40 PM