Sunday, November 4, 2007

Lost Children by Edith Pargeter


This is in some ways typical of a British post-WWII novel, containing a cross-class romance and friendships and social comment, both on class and on the acute shortage of housing in the post war period. It wasn't earnest and polemical about it though, and I enjoyed this book.

The style is a little stilted and wordy occasionally, but I liked the people, and the way there were four main characters and their interactions. I also liked how the novel left their history going on, some problems are solved or at least become manageable and some don't, like life.

The romance was only part of the plot. The title refers to the isolated family situation of several of the characters, the four main are all effectively motherless, and one is illegitimate. You can see the times changing, he is still presented as a sympathetic character!
Lost Children first published 1951

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