Book 2 - 2017
Book 2: Alice Hartley’s Happiness by Philippa Gregory - 257 pages
Description from bookdepository.co.uk:
Social mores come under bestselling author Philippa Gregory's acute scrutiny in this reissue of a long-unavailable novel of betrayal, revenge and liberation...Alice Hartley can no longer arouse the interest of her pompous husband, the adulterous professor. Despite her efforts, she still leaves him cold. Just as she is compelled to face this chilling truth, she meets Michael, a young student with an excessive libido. In Michael, Alice discovers an endless supply of all she has sought: revenge, sex and a large house suitable for conversion. Soon the house is thigh-deep with women joyfully casting off the shackles of their oppression. Sadly, some narrow-minded neighbours and numerous forces of the law seem completely impervious to all those healing vibrations...
Thoughts:
This is a short read by the author of the Tudor Court novels, focusing on the character of Alice Hartley and the young man she takes under her mad wing on her escape from her oppressive, cheating husband. Alice’s husband is a man of his era, horrified at the notion of his wife doing anything but being at his beck and call, so much so that he takes her to a shrink to convince her that the problems in their marriage are not his but her’s (even though he’s cheating on her, and is generally just a dickhead). So Alice flamboyantly leaves her husband, taking young Michael with her and taking over his Aunt’s home. There she sets up a collective of women engaging in a variety of alternative practices. It’s madness and joy for a time, and then after the police get involved, it comes to an end, Alice disappearing into the sunset. It’s a funny little story - a quick read, but I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it. I was more bemused by it. I think I prefer Gregory’s Tudor novels better.
2 / 50 books. 4% done!
581 / 15000 pages. 4% done!
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