BOOK REVIEW
“A Short Gentleman”
The Perfect Summer
by Jon Canter.
In some cultures, a marriage is arranged by the couple’s parents, taking into account the
suitability, in all significant areas, of the prospective partners. In this book, the putative groom
arranges his own marriage along much the same lines, seeking out
and selecting a woman who fits the criteria he has decided upon.
This somewhat unusual approach is made more peculiar by his
deliberate suppression of what might appear as her shortcomings;
when she does not meet all of the aforementioned criteria he
simply argues away her “defects” and seems to think that he can
This her a novel, although wants. He is wrong... yet he
mould isn’tinto the woman hethe author’s lively style and is
anecdotal approach make it
disconcertingly right about herseem like one. after her first affair,
return to him The book
describes the summer of 1911 – one of the hottest on record
even if…well, that would be spoiling it!
by Juliet Nicolson
– a time when very few people realised that war was looming,
but a period the eponymous protagonist (and these are
Robert Purcell, of unrest when strikes and suffragettes were
shaking political and social stability.
just the type of words he would use to describe himself)
is a lawyer, the son of a successful judge, who is happily
Nicolson concentrates on individuals from all classes whose
convinced of his own success in the same field. His career is
actions during this summer either characterised or changed
certain and all the relationships and experiences he has must
what was going on in Britain at the beginning of the
accord with this in every detail.
twentieth century. Many well-known names are mentioned
– Churchill, George V, of the Brooke, is different from his
Right from the beginningRupert novel, heVirginia Woolf and peers; he does not want
toAugustus John are among the many which appear in the encounters with the opposite sex
enjoy university life, he just wants to study and his chance
book. We see them, At from the I found the book amusing. Robert’s affair with Judy Page,
are highly entertaining. not this point, usual historical perspective,
but from
who alwaysa personal viewnude,people who havethe same way that Sheldon’s relationship with
hoovers in the - as is very funny in not yet established their fame.
Amy is funny in “The Big Bang Theory” – although Amy could take a leaf out of Judy’s book for
One of the aspects of the era that is strongly conveyed is the difference between rich
sheer poor. Conditions in the city slums are described so graphically, the reader can smell,
and sexual effrontery.
as I began to find Robert rather have been like. By contrast, the decadence of the country
Thenwell as visualise, what it mustcreepy. My unease started when he breaks into his future
house, set with its goes through an incredibly elaborate scheme to replace a square of
wife’s apartment and extravagant parties and myriads of servants, is lavishly presented.
What strikes us is apparently as a gap between her. The fact that she never notices the
coffee stained carpet,the insuperable “present” for the two worlds of the careworn and the
careless.
change and shortly afterwards moves out of the flat did nothing to allay my fears.
Despite this serious theme, there are also amusing parts precisely what he wants began
His self-confessed manipul