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Available
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Publication
Audible Studios (2013), Unabridged MP3; 11h14
Description
A gentle romance begins innocently enough in the stalls of a London theatre where Catherine is enjoying her ninth and Christopher his thirty-sixth visit to the same play. He is a magnificent young man with flame-coloured hair. She is the sweetest little thing in a hat. There is just one complication: Christopher is twenty-five, while Catherine is just a little bit older. Flattered by the passionate attentions of youth, Catherine, with marriage and motherhood behind her, is at first circumspect, but finally succumbs to her lover's charms. The engaging humour of this autobiographical novel blunts the bitter edge of irony in the hypocrisy of 1920s society.
User reviews
LibraryThing member wandering_star
I read the early part of this book on the underground, and I was shaking with laughter in my seat and occasionally even chuckling aloud. Christopher has fallen exuberantly in love with Catherine, but she is all-too-conscious of the age gap between them, and hopes to cool his ardour with politeness.
"I've always known you", he said solemnly; and at this she rather quickly offered him some cake, which he ignored.
Spoiler alert: At this point I imagined that Love was going to be one of those delicious, escapist books, like Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day or Mrs 'Arris Goes To Paris, in which quiet, patient virtue is finally rewarded and a dusty existence comes to life. And that does happen in this book. But the trouble is, the story continues on afterwards, and reality comes rushing back in with a vengeance. For Catherine is 47, about to become a grandmother, and Christopher is 25. Social disapprobation is one thing, but Catherine's own consciousness of the gap in their ages (which Christopher is blithely unconcerned about) leads her to ever more desperate measures. I found this part of the story almost unbearably sad.
The blurb is very much focused on the romance and the comedy and barely hints at poignant undertones. I kind of hope that was a sales-pitch thing - that's much better than the possibility that someone could read this and see it as a comedy throughout!
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"I've always known you", he said solemnly; and at this she rather quickly offered him some cake, which he ignored.
Spoiler alert: At this point I imagined that Love was going to be one of those delicious, escapist books, like Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day or Mrs 'Arris Goes To Paris, in which quiet, patient virtue is finally rewarded and a dusty existence comes to life. And that does happen in this book. But the trouble is, the story continues on afterwards, and reality comes rushing back in with a vengeance. For Catherine is 47, about to become a grandmother, and Christopher is 25. Social disapprobation is one thing, but Catherine's own consciousness of the gap in their ages (which Christopher is blithely unconcerned about) leads her to ever more desperate measures. I found this part of the story almost unbearably sad.
The blurb is very much focused on the romance and the comedy and barely hints at poignant undertones. I kind of hope that was a sales-pitch thing - that's much better than the possibility that someone could read this and see it as a comedy throughout!
Show Less
LibraryThing member alexdaw
This is my second Elizabeth von Arnim novel. I listened to this book and it was read very adroitly and with great humour and pathos by Eleanor Bron. It is a story about a young man who falls in love with a much older woman. Not such a great drama in this day and age but the novel is set in 1925
Catherine, a widow, attends with great fervour a play rather aptly entitled "The immortal hour". She and a band of stalwarts regularly attend the matinee performances and share a strict code of devotion - no late entrances, no talking, no rustling of paper etc. One of the band of devotees is a young man about town - Christopher.
At first I wanted to strangle both characters. Catherine is so - well - flaky. And Christopher is like an over-enthusiastic puppy.
Christopher finds Catherine a great companion - a very good listener. At first she is amused by this young man's attentions but then things become awkward. Christopher for his own part is "surprised" by what he is forced to confess is his burgeoning love for Catherine. And Christopher is determined not to be thwarted - by Catherine, his well-meaning friend or anyone else.
Catherine, to date, has led an exemplary life as wife, mother and widow. She is remarkably agreeable and rational. In her own way, she too is "surprised" by love. When it hits her, it hits her hard.
The foil for this deceptively simple plot is the simply marvellous character of Catherine's son-in-law and curate Stephen.
As things become abundantly clear and Christopher's love encourages Catherine to stand up for herself and stake out her territory to her bullying in-laws, Stephen swings into action.
I gasped with horror, indignation and anticipation at this story. And I laughed out loud at the characters' foibles and inner thoughts - right down to Catherine's housekeeper - who desperately trys to adjust and come to grips with her "betters" change of heart and situation.
I shan't spoil the ending for you but it left me thinking for many days. Let me know what you think if you do read it. I was particularly fascinated with the tragic account of Catherine's search for a youthful complexion.
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when it was much more of a scandal.Catherine, a widow, attends with great fervour a play rather aptly entitled "The immortal hour". She and a band of stalwarts regularly attend the matinee performances and share a strict code of devotion - no late entrances, no talking, no rustling of paper etc. One of the band of devotees is a young man about town - Christopher.
At first I wanted to strangle both characters. Catherine is so - well - flaky. And Christopher is like an over-enthusiastic puppy.
Christopher finds Catherine a great companion - a very good listener. At first she is amused by this young man's attentions but then things become awkward. Christopher for his own part is "surprised" by what he is forced to confess is his burgeoning love for Catherine. And Christopher is determined not to be thwarted - by Catherine, his well-meaning friend or anyone else.
Catherine, to date, has led an exemplary life as wife, mother and widow. She is remarkably agreeable and rational. In her own way, she too is "surprised" by love. When it hits her, it hits her hard.
The foil for this deceptively simple plot is the simply marvellous character of Catherine's son-in-law and curate Stephen.
As things become abundantly clear and Christopher's love encourages Catherine to stand up for herself and stake out her territory to her bullying in-laws, Stephen swings into action.
I gasped with horror, indignation and anticipation at this story. And I laughed out loud at the characters' foibles and inner thoughts - right down to Catherine's housekeeper - who desperately trys to adjust and come to grips with her "betters" change of heart and situation.
I shan't spoil the ending for you but it left me thinking for many days. Let me know what you think if you do read it. I was particularly fascinated with the tragic account of Catherine's search for a youthful complexion.
Show Less
LibraryThing member BeyondEdenRock
I remember, many years ago, falling in love with Elizabeth Von Arnim’s writing as I read every one of her books that Virago republished. Back then I read library copies, and years later I started to collect her books for my own library, secure in the knowledge that I could happily read them over
‘Love’ was one of the most elusive titles, and even though many of the details had slipped my mind I remembered that it was a particular favourite, that it had an especially striking cover, and so I was delighted when I finally found a copy to keep.
This is the story of a romance between a young man and a somewhat older lady, and I on the second time of reading my love for the story grew and grew.
The young man is Christopher, who works in an office and shares a London flat with a friend. His favourite pastime is visiting the theatre, and there is one play he loves above all others and goes to see many, many times. He comes to realise that there is a lady who must love the play as much as he does, because he sees her there often; and one day, when they are sitting on the same row, Christopher broaches a conversation.
The lady is charmed, and the pair talk about the play and about many other things, but Christopher finds that she is reticent when it comes to talking about herself. All he learns is that she is Mrs. Catherine Cumfrit, and that she is a widow. He wishes she would say a little more, and that he could get to know her rather better.
When the perspective shifts it is easy to understand why Catherine is reticent. She had married a sensible, reliable man who was significantly older than her, and she had been a widow for a few years. He had been concerned that she might fall prey to fortune hunters when he was gone, and so he left his estate and his fortune to his daughter and just a small income to his wife.
His concern had been well-intentioned, but it had consequences that he hadn’t considered. He left his estate and his fortune to their daughter, rather than to Catherine herself, because he was anxious that Catherine might be taken advantage of by a fortune hunter. Catherine’s daughter, Virginia, had married at the age of eighteen; and that left Catherine in a rather uncomfortable position in the where she had once been mistress. She saw that her daughter was blissfully happy with the older clergyman who said that she made him feel young again, and she realised that it was time she found a new home of her own.
Her small income allowed Catherine to live modestly in a flat in London, with one servant to look after her. She missed her home, she missed the countryside, she missed having money to buy new things, but she told herself that she had to come to terms with a new way of life.
When Christopher came into her life, Catherine was flattered by his attentions, and she began to think that maybe she wouldn’t be a widow for the rest of her life. She was anxious though, because she knew that Christopher hadn’t really thought about how much older that him she was, and what the consequences of that might be. Not knowing quite what to do, she decided to escape to the country for a little while.
The household staff were delighted when Katherine arrived with two trunks, but Virginia and her husband, Stephen, were rather alarmed by the prospect of a long visit. They were too polite to say so, but their behaviour made their feelings clear, and Katherine was appalled to find herself considered of an age with Stephen’s mother when she was in fact a little younger than Stephen.
They completely forgot that Katherine had been mistress of the house for more than twenty years, until just a few months ago; and they didn’t give a thought to how she might feel. They were completely wrapped up in their own love story, and they were oblivious to anything else.
Katherine couldn’t explain why she had come to stay, and she began to realise that she was an unwelcome quest.
Then Christopher – unwilling to give up his pursuit – arrived with on his motorbike, with a sidecar to carry her back to London. Katherine was delighted, her family were scandalised, and the trip back to London put the relationship between the pair onto a new footing.
They married.
There would be drama in London as Katherine tried to keep up with her young husband and to be the kind of wife she thought he would want; and there would be drama in the country when the time came for Virginia’s first child to be born.
Would the relationship between come through the approbation of friends, family and society, AND all of that?
The answer wouldn’t come until the last pages, and I flew through the book until I got there, because I was so caught up with the characters and their stories. Those characters and their relationships are so well drawn; and there are many lovely reminders that love is blind, and that it can make us blind.
The juxtaposition of two relationships with age gap – one considered quite normal by society and one not – is particularly well done.
The plot is so cleverly constructed, balancing expected and unexpected developments, confirming some assumptions and overturning others, changing some things and leaving others just as they were. There are big questions and small questions to ponder, wrapped up in a wonderfully engaging story.
Best of all is the narrative voice. It has the warm, wry wit that is so typical of Elizabeth Von Arnim, and also has things it wants to say and points that it wants to make. I wasn’t at all surprised at all to learn that the author was inspired by a relationship of her own with a much younger man.
She really was inspired, and I really think that ‘Love’ is a marvellous novel.
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and over again.‘Love’ was one of the most elusive titles, and even though many of the details had slipped my mind I remembered that it was a particular favourite, that it had an especially striking cover, and so I was delighted when I finally found a copy to keep.
This is the story of a romance between a young man and a somewhat older lady, and I on the second time of reading my love for the story grew and grew.
The young man is Christopher, who works in an office and shares a London flat with a friend. His favourite pastime is visiting the theatre, and there is one play he loves above all others and goes to see many, many times. He comes to realise that there is a lady who must love the play as much as he does, because he sees her there often; and one day, when they are sitting on the same row, Christopher broaches a conversation.
The lady is charmed, and the pair talk about the play and about many other things, but Christopher finds that she is reticent when it comes to talking about herself. All he learns is that she is Mrs. Catherine Cumfrit, and that she is a widow. He wishes she would say a little more, and that he could get to know her rather better.
When the perspective shifts it is easy to understand why Catherine is reticent. She had married a sensible, reliable man who was significantly older than her, and she had been a widow for a few years. He had been concerned that she might fall prey to fortune hunters when he was gone, and so he left his estate and his fortune to his daughter and just a small income to his wife.
His concern had been well-intentioned, but it had consequences that he hadn’t considered. He left his estate and his fortune to their daughter, rather than to Catherine herself, because he was anxious that Catherine might be taken advantage of by a fortune hunter. Catherine’s daughter, Virginia, had married at the age of eighteen; and that left Catherine in a rather uncomfortable position in the where she had once been mistress. She saw that her daughter was blissfully happy with the older clergyman who said that she made him feel young again, and she realised that it was time she found a new home of her own.
Her small income allowed Catherine to live modestly in a flat in London, with one servant to look after her. She missed her home, she missed the countryside, she missed having money to buy new things, but she told herself that she had to come to terms with a new way of life.
When Christopher came into her life, Catherine was flattered by his attentions, and she began to think that maybe she wouldn’t be a widow for the rest of her life. She was anxious though, because she knew that Christopher hadn’t really thought about how much older that him she was, and what the consequences of that might be. Not knowing quite what to do, she decided to escape to the country for a little while.
The household staff were delighted when Katherine arrived with two trunks, but Virginia and her husband, Stephen, were rather alarmed by the prospect of a long visit. They were too polite to say so, but their behaviour made their feelings clear, and Katherine was appalled to find herself considered of an age with Stephen’s mother when she was in fact a little younger than Stephen.
They completely forgot that Katherine had been mistress of the house for more than twenty years, until just a few months ago; and they didn’t give a thought to how she might feel. They were completely wrapped up in their own love story, and they were oblivious to anything else.
Katherine couldn’t explain why she had come to stay, and she began to realise that she was an unwelcome quest.
Then Christopher – unwilling to give up his pursuit – arrived with on his motorbike, with a sidecar to carry her back to London. Katherine was delighted, her family were scandalised, and the trip back to London put the relationship between the pair onto a new footing.
They married.
There would be drama in London as Katherine tried to keep up with her young husband and to be the kind of wife she thought he would want; and there would be drama in the country when the time came for Virginia’s first child to be born.
Would the relationship between come through the approbation of friends, family and society, AND all of that?
The answer wouldn’t come until the last pages, and I flew through the book until I got there, because I was so caught up with the characters and their stories. Those characters and their relationships are so well drawn; and there are many lovely reminders that love is blind, and that it can make us blind.
The juxtaposition of two relationships with age gap – one considered quite normal by society and one not – is particularly well done.
The plot is so cleverly constructed, balancing expected and unexpected developments, confirming some assumptions and overturning others, changing some things and leaving others just as they were. There are big questions and small questions to ponder, wrapped up in a wonderfully engaging story.
Best of all is the narrative voice. It has the warm, wry wit that is so typical of Elizabeth Von Arnim, and also has things it wants to say and points that it wants to make. I wasn’t at all surprised at all to learn that the author was inspired by a relationship of her own with a much younger man.
She really was inspired, and I really think that ‘Love’ is a marvellous novel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member etxgardener
Romance begins between 40-something widow Catherine and twenty-something Christopher meet after encountering each other multiple times at the same play in London. Catherine has seen it nine times and Christopher thirty-six. Christopher thinks she is the most wonderful woman he’s ever met and
The author who brought us the wonderful Enchanted April gives us another treat. This is a romance for grown-ups.
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pursues her with a vengeance. Catherine, while initially flattered, knows that the relationship will be folly. And yet, and yet…..Can this May/November romance survive the scrutiny of society?The author who brought us the wonderful Enchanted April gives us another treat. This is a romance for grown-ups.
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Original language
English
Original publication date
1925