THE HEARING TRUMPET

by Leonora Carrington ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 1976

A romp among the senile and, if you buy that, an alleged triumph of age over youth and institutions. The trumpet of the title, a gift to 92-year-old Marian Leatherby from a psychic friend, enables the deaf grandmother to eavesdrop on her hostile family and hear their plans to unload her. They do, and she joins a bunch of other aging women at a suspicious home run by Dr. Gambit, a Sanctified Psychologist, and his budget-minded wife. Marian gets to know each of the other women (whose personalities are actually done rather well) and the mysteries of the place; she especially fixes on a winking nun in a portrait who, written history reveals, faked her way to canonization. Is Carrington winking at us too? Probably not, for this dubious group endures rebellion and cataclysm to greet a new Ice Age. You can only wonder why. Dotty despite its lofty pretensions and symbolic props.

Pub Date: Sept. 22, 1976

ISBN: 1878972197

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1976

Categories: FICTION