Family Album - by Penelope Lively (Paperback)

About the Book

A novel of family intrigue from one of the most accomplished writers of fiction ("The Washington Post"), "Family Album" offers a measured, thoughtful look at how events of the past, both small and large, deeply inform the present.

Book Synopsis

"In this haunting new novel, the act of forgetting is as strange and interesting as the power of remembering." --The New York Times Book Review

An enjoyable read filled with memorable characters and secrets from Booker Prize winner Penelope Lively

Allersmead is a big shabby Victorian suburban house. The perfect place to grow up for elegant Sandra, difficult Gina, destructive Paul, considerate Katie, clever Roger and flighty Clare.

But was it?

Now adults, the children return to Allersmead one by one. To their home-making mother and aloof writer father, and a house that for years has played silent witness to a family's secrets.

And one devastating secret of which no one speaks . . .

Review Quotes

Named a Guardian "Book of the Year"
Nominated for The Costa Prize

"In this haunting new novel, the act of forgetting is as strange and interesting as the power of remembering." --The New York Times Book Review

"Lively immediately plunges us into an entirely convincing world of bustling family life...exceptionally well observed and gloriously enjoyable...this should be rated as one of her most impressive works." ― Guardian

"One of those ridiculously simple, ridiculously readable novels whose artistry only becomes apparent when you put it down with a sign of regret, having devoured it in one sitting...Lively still displays an economy and an elegance that put younger writers to shame." ― Sunday Telegraph (London)

"Lively's brilliance is of the creeping kind. There is a sense of formality, which falls away as the novel gains pace and builds towards an unforeseen end. She is particularly good at bending language to make it fit her cool and clear voice...Lively succeeds brilliantly in getting a hold on the climate of family life. Slowly we absorb the details that get lost in the bluster and flurry until we are so drawn in, so tightly contained in the dynamics of this one, that the end, when it comes, is simply devastating." ― The Times (London)

"A pleasure to read, hugely enjoyable, consistently absorbing, hilarious." ― Independent (London)

"Sympathetic and observant, Lively moves fluidly between present-tense set-piece scenes and silent monologues, placing the novel's revelations where they will be most effective, and allowing implications - about marriage, feminism and personal ambition - to blossom slowly." ― Sunday Times (London)

"A very readable, well-paced novel peopled with Lively's customary immaculately observed and impeccably rounded characters." ― Independent on Sunday (London)

"Lively skilfully mingles past and present, as she peels away the layers to uncover a family secret of which no one speaks...Lively's astute skewering of family relations reverberates in the mind long afterwards." ― Daily Mail (London)

About the Author

Penelope Lively grew up in Egypt but settled in England after the war and took a degree in history at St Anne's College, Oxford. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and a member of PEN and the Society of Authors. She was married to the late Professor Jack Lively, has a daughter, a son, and four grandchildren, and lives in Oxfordshire and London.

She has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize; once in 1977 for her first novel, The Road to Lichfield, and again in 1984 for According to Mark. She later won the 1987 Booker Prize for her highly acclaimed novel Moon Tiger. Her novels include Passing On, shortlisted for the 1989 Sunday Express Book of the Year Award, City of the Mind, Cleopatra's Sister and Heat Wave.

She has also written radio and television scripts and has acted as presenter for a BBC Radio 4 program on children's literature. She is a popular writer for children and has won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award.