It took me about 40 pages to get into this but I finished it very much impressed by the irony, humor and superb writing. Compton Burnett is described as Cubist, experimental and innovative, all of which is true. She manages to tell an entire story with defined characters simply through dialogue. She's an acquired taste and I am ready to read more of her tales of the mannered upper-class Edwardians as well as Spurling's biography. ( )

Hilarious! ( )

This 1930s book explores the troubled family life of the Edgeworths, headed by Duncan, a controlling and rude father. There are two grown girls, Nance and Sybil, who live at home and an orphaned cousin who will inherit the family property through an entailment. But then the mother dies, and Duncan remarries. The mother's death seems to set off a spiral downward of behavior in the family and drama ensues. It's pretty dark and no one comes out particularly well.

This book consists almost entirely of dialogue, a choice I found fatiguing. Though the characters certainly do reveal themselves through their conversations, I found myself wanting some descriptive passages. Overall, this book didn't really work for me.

Original publication date: 1935
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 287 pages
Rating: 2.5 stars
Format/Where I acquired the book: nyrb
Why I read this: group read on litsy ( )

An experiment in conveying a narrative almost entirely through dialog of dry sass. Mostly unsuccessful, as the scandals were obscured to the point of no impact and the meanings were frequently too unclear. ( )

wanted to like this. i vaguely remember reading an icb book 30-40 years ago and not liking it but i thought perhaps in maturity..... but too,too many characters and i never knew who some of them were. the book is mostly dialogue like a play. ( )