excellent characterisation and psychological insight. casual cruelty, bullying, spinsterhood, wintery london...I loved it and found it so compelling. ( )

One of Brookner's earliest novels, new to me, thanks to PaulC for mentioning. Very different tone to her more well known Hotel du Lac, but already a finely crafted novel.

Working in a medical library, Frances Hinton, a budding writer gets caught up in the world of an older couple. When another colleague joins their coterie the balance shifts, and Frances explores the situation by casting them as characters in an imagined novel.

I especially liked the final quarter of the book which I read in one sitting.

I'm trying to remember which book I read in the last couple of years that had clearly been inspired by this book. ( )

Frances is a lonely young human and she's only ever worked in a medical Library. So she's easily dazzled when the wife of one of the doctors shows up. This wife, named Alix, is all show and very shallow. Frances should have been clued in the day she met her.
P.61:
" 'that's that, then,' she said, once the gloves were found. 'we'll see you tomorrow. Nick will tell you the way.' and immediately she switched her attention to nick, looking into his eyes and dazzling him with the slow dawning of her smile.
There was quite a silence after they left. I had remained standing all this time, and as I slowly sat down again, I could hear them laughing on the other side of the door. I could even hear her say, 'well, don't tell me I don't do my duty.' Then Nick murmured something, and she replied, her voice unmodulated from its usual carrying resonance, 'yes, but darling, what a crew. the things I do for england. frances, did you say that girl's name was? I seem to have asked her to dinner. what's the matter with the other one?' And then her voice died away and after a minute or two I heard the front door close behind them. olivia, who had kept her eyes on her work throughout this episode, said nothing. her initial blush had faded, leaving a startling whiteness."

James is a doctor who works in the medical institution. Through Alix and nick, James and Frances end up together at dinner, a foursome. James and Frances are attracted to each other and begin dating. however, Alix wants to know every single thing that they talk about and think about and their future plans. Frances is taciturn, and doesn't want to share anything . This irritates Alix to no end. She fixes this by having James move into their spare bedroom.
P.129-30:
"Alix telephoned me the following morning. she sounded much more light-hearted than of late, and did not even complain of the cold [Alex is to be pitied because she used to own a plantation in Jamaica. She has 'come down in the world.']. 'when shall I see you?' I asked, aware that Dr leventhal had come into the room behind me. 'Oh, as soon as possible,' she replied. 'it will all be much easier now.' 'easier?' I asked. 'how?' 'Well,' she said, 'more convenient anyway. I've managed to persuade James to take the spare room. That way we can all spend more time together.' "

Now James changes his attitude towards frances. Frances can read his body language, especially since he will no longer meet her eyes. However, since Frances seems to have little experience with relationships, (she alludes in the book to a bad relationship that happened priorly), she doesn't take the hint that James wishes she would. things come to a head on the Monday night before christmas, when Frances walks over to Alix and Nick's place and they all four go downstairs for dinner at the restaurant. James totally ignores Frances, as do the other two. Alix's friend Maria shows up, and Frances notes the look of desire when James looks at her. Now is the time for her to go, when reality comes crashing down.
P.214:
"and then I was alone, in that emptying street, with the night's blackness to hide me.
I maintained my airy walk and my smile was still on my lips. for as long as I thought that Nick and Alix might take it into their heads to worry about me and offer me a lift home in their car, I sauntered along, looking amused and nonchalant, as if having witnessed some particularly rare episode of the human comedy, available only to connoisseurs of the absurd. my hands in my pockets, my head tilted at its usual inquiring angle, I took my time, perusing articles in shop windows, stepping unconcerned from areas of light to areas of darkness, attentive to the hiss of tyres behind me, waiting for a car to stop and a voice to hail me. I would have gone with them. yes, even then I would have gone with them. for what I felt, beneath the bright fictitious surface of my outward appearance, was an enormous sense of loss. It no longer seemed to me important that I had been duped. I was so tired of not apportioning blame that I could no longer see where it was due. I felt, simply, irradiated by the blast of some great revelation, though I could not yet fully understand the nature of that revelation.
....
As for james, whom I loved all the more for having lost him, and more even than that, for having seen him reveal himself as a true man, with desire in his eyes, a lover at last, well, james, it was simple, James was... Like them."

Poor frances; the reader would hope that she has learned her lesson about people who think they are attractive. And about men. The only uplifting thing I felt at this point, was to know that if this story were to continue, and James and Maria were to become an item, then Alix would once again be jealous of their relationship and would work to destroy it.
P.254:
..."and then I became quiet, for I realized that I was still waiting, hoping that one of them would telephone and invite me to their Christmas celebration.
of course, this might not happen. For once a thing is known, it can never be unknown. It can only be forgotten. And, in a way that Bends time, once it is remembered, it indicates the future. I realize now that although I sit in this room, growing older, alone, and very sadly, I must live by that knowledge. the telephone May ring, tonight or tomorrow: it no longer matters."

This book started out slow, but then it built to an emotional high where you become involved with Innocent frances's feelings, her delight in being involved with a popular, attractive couple. Her falling in love with life, by being admired and liked and desired by james. And then the huge letdown, where she realizes the shallowness of the people whom she thought cared about her and truly enjoyed and valued her friendship. I loved it. ( )

I loved this book. I know it's early, but this will likely be my favorite read of 2019. Looking forward to reading more Anita Brookner this year. ( )

A sad story of love lost to a woman who has ideas of being a novelist. This is only the surface reading. While longing for modern social interaction with new found friends, Frances finds her natural reticence and self-containment do not help with her introduction to this world.
She uses her talent for observation of people and manners to explain away the frightful and condescending attitude of Alix (one of the new found friends) who helps sabotage a nascent love affair. None the less, Frances is defeated by the failure of new love and friendship.
However, she realises this is a price she will have to pay in order to pursue writing. The only way she can now get a response to "Look At Me" is by writing.
This book is then also a reflection on the sacrifice a writer like Brookner feels she must make to work.
A quote from the start of Chapter 6:

'...the business of writing for what it truly was and is to me. It is your penance for not being lucky. It is an attempt to reach others and make them love you. It is your instinctive protest, when you find you have no voice at the world's tribunals, and that no one will speak for you. I would give my entire output of words....in exchange for easier access to the world., for permission to state "I hurt" or "I hate" or "I want". Or, indeed, "Look at me".'