All Passion Spent (Vintage Classics)
Irreverently funny and surprisingly moving, All Passion Spent is the story of a woman who discovers who she is just before it is too late.
After the death of elder statesman Lord Slane—a former prime minister of Great Britain and viceroy of India—everyone assumes that his eighty-eight-year-old widow will slowly fade away in her grief, remaining as proper, decorative, and dutiful as she has been her entire married life. But the deceptively gentle Lady Slane has other ideas. First she defies the patronizing meddling of her children and escapes to a rented house in Hampstead. There, to her offspring’s utter amazement, she revels in her new freedom, recalls her youthful ambitions, and gathers some very unsuitable companions—who reveal to her just how much she had sacrificed under the pressure of others’ expectations.
After the death of elder statesman Lord Slane—a former prime minister of Great Britain and viceroy of India—everyone assumes that his eighty-eight-year-old widow will slowly fade away in her grief, remaining as proper, decorative, and dutiful as she has been her entire married life. But the deceptively gentle Lady Slane has other ideas. First she defies the patronizing meddling of her children and escapes to a rented house in Hampstead. There, to her offspring’s utter amazement, she revels in her new freedom, recalls her youthful ambitions, and gathers some very unsuitable companions—who reveal to her just how much she had sacrificed under the pressure of others’ expectations.
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Community Reviews
I didn't know what to expect from this book from an author had never heard of, but it was gifted to me by somebody very important so I gave it a chance. This jewel of a book centers around the last months of the life of an 88-year-old woman who had spent her entire life being useful to the career of her successful husband.
If this had been written by another author, she probably would have all sorts of wild misadventures with zany sidekicks. But, to my delight, she realizes that her pleasures are quiet and magnetizes people to her who share in simple and lovely gestures.
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