Family and a Fortune Book

I bought this in a jumble sale thinking that it might be one of those relatively light 1930s stories in the style of Delafield. However, this is a very, very different style of novel. Almost completely dialogue-driven with hardly any description other than the physical characteristics of the protagonists, this is a very difficult book to read. It requires far more attention to the text than almost any novel I have read. It was a real effort and far outside my experience. Yet, the experience is beguiling. For me it is a bit like watching Chinese Opera. I haven’t much of an idea about what is going but the extreme difference to normal experience and the obvious quality and sincerity of the delivery, fascinate and entertain.

I won’t hurry to read another Compton-Burnett novel, but, when I feel like reading a book which has the same intellectual challenge as that posed by a crossword puzzle, I will reach for another.