A PERFECT WOMAN

by L. P. Hartley ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Perhaps not as catching a book as The Go Between certainly the reader's emotions are not as likely to become engaged, but a poised and pointed, assured and amused drama of disturbed personal relationships. Isabel Eastwood is the perfect woman, but her marriage to Harold is not altogether perfect; she has a Bovarye consciousness of a world wider than her London suburban lot. Harold Eastwood is an accountant, as correct as his figures and dedicated to the gospel of conformity. And it is Alexander Goodrich, an author and a chance acquaintance, who disrupts their settled existence. To Isabel, Alec is the answer to her literary leanings and she is anxious to free him from the encroachments of Elspeth and her ""malignant fidelity"" which has dominated his looks and his life. To Harold, he is a doubtful, irregular and somewhat suspicious character- but responsible for many new and profitable clients. Alec's interest in Irma, a gently appealing Austrian girl in their local lub, is encouraged- particularly by Isabel until Harold is the one who becomes involved, and Isabel has her chance with Alec. His last book which feeds on these situations and provides some cruel, posthumous revelations, is an ironic end- and a new beginning for Harold and Isabel... L. P. Hartley writes with great care, control- and at leisure, and he ministers to the minority of more selective readers.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1956

Categories: FICTION