Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont (1971)

This was a lovely story, beautifully constructed and self-contained. It would be a great play. It is a touching and thoughtful look at aging, loneliness, and community, with a colourful cast of often sharp-tongued characters.
A bit of trivia: p71, the mother of Mrs Palfrey's friend says "But every great actor started that way. I'm sure Sir Laurence did his stint." The real-life widow of Sir Laurence, Joan Plowright, plays Mrs Palfrey in the movie.

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When Mrs. Palfrey is widowed, she decides that moving into a small, respectable, London hotel is the best way to maintain her independence. Surely the bustle and entertainments that London has to offer will fend off boredom, and her daughter will visit occasonally without finding her a burden.

She finds she must adjust to the hotel's other permanent residents, and, of course, things never quite turn out as one expects.

This was a poignant book. What the author has done is lift the veil of British reserve, and show how vulnerable we all are behind the public face we all wear. Taylor does this with subtle humor and with grace.

I loved this book, and intend to read more of this author. ( )

http://kaggsysbookishramblings.wordpress.com/2012/12/17/virago-volumes-mrs-palfr... ( )

On the opening page of this book, we find Mrs Palfrey--a widow whose only daughter lives in Scotland--moving into the Claremont Hotel in London. There she meets a cast of widows and widowers, each with their quirks and quibbles. One day while out walking, Mrs Palfrey strikes up an unusual friendship with a young penniless writer, Ludo, who she then passes off as her grandson.

If I were to describe this book in one word, it would be "poignant." I've never read a better book about the experience of aging. She also wonderfully shows people struggling with isolation, memory, and friendship. Although this book is sad, it's also funny, and sharply observant. Taylor has been compared to Jane Austen, and I can see why. There is not a wasted word in this 205 page novel--her writing is just superb. This was nominated for the Booker Prize, and I think it deserved to win. Can I add Elizabeth Taylor to my favourite authors list based on this one novel?

Recommended for: everyone, although not for every mood. It is a sad book, so if you're currently being treated for clinical depression, leave this one until your doing better. This would also make a fabulous book club selection (there is a reader's guide at the Virago Press website), though I think it might not be that easy to get a copy. ( )

I know I read [Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont] in the early or mid-80's, thirty years ago. In that time I have made the shift from being a young woman to being on the threshold of late middle age and so, naturally my 'identification' has shifted from the younger character, Ludo, to the elderly residents of the Claremont Hotel. I always hugely liked the lively sort older person from an early age, loved the stories they had to tell and enjoyed just being with them in a way that I know is unusual. It's been hard to handle in the last ten years as all but one or two of these marvelous people have died (let alone my parents) and I've struggled with a sense of being horribly betrayed and overwhelmed by so many departures - also wondering now how to fill that void - how to cultivate the interested younger parties. I am lucky and do not have a 'sporty' daughter who cares nothing for the things I care for. She told me just this morning she thinks of me as being about thirty (which is a remarkably accurate for how I feel inside). I also attended as faithfully as I could to my mother after she had to be in a 'residence' and the whole atmo of the Claremont took me back in a most excrutiating way. The loneliness and the sense of just waiting to die, of being of no interest or use to anybody......In short, I found this a hard hard read this time around. As a novel - it is a near flawless piece of work, with an ending that manages to be simultaneously shocking and also darkly funny - Laura Palfrey has managed to shroud the end of her life in a certain mystery and we know by now that she would have enjoyed that immensely. The blow though of the daughter's callousness took my breath away. This was the toughest Taylor yet, about the most unsentimental view of aging I've ever encountered.

For those of you who want to find a host of superb reviews go to the Taylor Celebration thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/144120#t and poke around. More than a few Virago-ites have marvelous blogs. ( )