HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

After Julius (1965)

by Elizabeth Jane Howard

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1637166,344 (3.62)4
It is twenty years since Julius died, but his last heroic action still affects the lives of the people he left behind./Emma, his youngest daughter, twenty-seven years old and afraid of men. Cressida, her sister, a war widow, blindly searching for love in her affairs with married men. Esme, Julius's widow, still attractive at fifty-eight, but aimlessly lost in the routine of her perfect home. Felix, Esme's old lover, who left her when Julius died and who is still plagued by guilt for his action. And Dan, an outsider.Throughout a disastrous - and revelatory - weekend in Sussex, the influence of the dead Julius slowly emerges . . ./'A novel that commands both respect and applause' Sunday Times… (more)
  1. 00
    Slipstream by Elizabeth Jane Howard (KayCliff)
    KayCliff: Episodes from the novel are retold in the autobiography.
None
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 4 mentions

English (5)  Spanish (1)  French (1)  All languages (7)
Showing 5 of 5
Excellent writing, with exacting observation about the state of men/women relationships post WWII. The action takes place over a winter weekend, during which the static patterns of the unfulfilled loving relationships of the five main characters burst apart in surprising ways.
Howard writes with what must be personal experience of the generally awful attitudes of men towards sex and the conduct of affairs: but she also is only too well aware of how little a woman will accept in a love relationship just to keep herself in one.
The ending leaves the reader cold, even though outwardly the two sisters appear to be in the initial stages of what they anticipate might become enduring love.
Note: Dan, the poet is Grade A bastard.
  ivanfranko | Feb 7, 2022 |
Loved the female characters. I am left agog after the ending. The book fulfills its romantic/comedic arc and works against it at the same time. Hated Dan. ( )
  Je9 | Aug 10, 2021 |
A family gather for a weekend together; there's 58 year old widow Esme, her two daughters - pianist Cressy, who flits between unhappy affairs, and publisher Emma, who seems to fear men. Joining them are a young working-class poet Emma has just befriended... and doctor Felix King, once Esme's younger lover, but she's not seen him for twenty years.
Over the whole situation looms Esme's late husband Julius... a noble character who died in the war, yet whose influence still exerts a pull two decades on...
EJ Howard's earliest published work (1965); it's an OK read but not up to the superb standard of her later Cazalet Chronicles ( )
  starbox | May 21, 2018 |
I enjoyed this book a great deal. All of Howard's books (that I've read) are very much of their time - she has a gift for portraying the slightly grubby feel of post-war England - bed sits and inconveniences - in contrast to the pre-war comfort of more established/monied homes. In this she sometimes reminds of aspects of Barbara Pym and Mary Renault (Purposes of Love) The action of the story takes place over a weekend, mostly spent in the country, and concerns a widow, her two daughters, an old lover and a poet who, in their world at least, is slightly odd. The real meat of the story, however, is in the heads of the protagonists, their pasts and their feelings. As always, Howard creates real and interesting characters, and as always there is the strong impression that she is drawing heavily on her own life.
Although I enjoyed the book very much, the impressions it leaves of Howard's views on the relations between men and women are disturbing. The two sisters drift along, letting life 'happen' to them, and although the reasons for this are explored they don't seem altogether satisfactory. This is partly to do with changed social mores, but I think also to do with Howard's own life experience. Nevertheless, it is a beautifully written and lingering novel. ( )
  Goldengrove | Jun 19, 2009 |
From one of the book boxes that Moem sent to me. Looks like an interesting read, so it'll stay here, restin gon MTBR for a while.
  BoekenTrol71 | Mar 31, 2013 |
Showing 5 of 5
no reviews | add a review

» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Howard, Elizabeth Janeprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Hammerich, ClaraTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hastings, SelinaIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wilks, SueCover photographsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
Dedicated to Kingsley
First words
Now it is a Friday morning in November.
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

It is twenty years since Julius died, but his last heroic action still affects the lives of the people he left behind./Emma, his youngest daughter, twenty-seven years old and afraid of men. Cressida, her sister, a war widow, blindly searching for love in her affairs with married men. Esme, Julius's widow, still attractive at fifty-eight, but aimlessly lost in the routine of her perfect home. Felix, Esme's old lover, who left her when Julius died and who is still plagued by guilt for his action. And Dan, an outsider.Throughout a disastrous - and revelatory - weekend in Sussex, the influence of the dead Julius slowly emerges . . ./'A novel that commands both respect and applause' Sunday Times

No library descriptions found.

Book description
It is twenty years since Julius died, but his last heroic action still affects the lives of the people he left behind.Emma, his youngest daughter, twenty-seven years old and afraid of men. Cressida, her sister, a war widow, blindly searching for love in her affairs with married men. Esme, Julius's widow, still attractive at fifty-eight, but aimlessly lost in the routine of her perfect home. Felix, Esme's older lover who left her when Julius died and who is still plagued by guilt for his action. And Dan, an outsider.Throughout a disastrous--and revelatory--weekend in Sussex, the influence of the dead Julius slowly emerges--Back cover.
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (3.62)
0.5
1
1.5
2 3
2.5 1
3 5
3.5 2
4 15
4.5 1
5 2

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,239,552 books! | Top bar: Always visible