Family Album
Lively, PenelopeAllersmead, a large and sprawling Edwardian home for the Harpers, a large and sprawling family. When the adult children, all six of them, visit their aging parents and Ingrid, the au pair who never left, dust is blown off childhood memories, snapshots of earlier times are re-examined and family secrets exposed to the light of day.
With its vivid characters, their mishmash of memories and Allersmead at its heart, this is an acute and enjoyable observation of family life. [Larger font]
Comments from Groups
It produced robust discussion on 'large families'. Our group came from an only child to six in the family so very diverse points of view. Dunedin 001 We all enjoyed this very much - as with all Penelope Lively's books. This time we tried to pin down exactly what is about her writing style that is so compelling: very succinct, few adverbs. We talked about the fine characterisation and also the similarities to the Mitford family: lots of children, secret places and games, eccentric father, 'earthy mother'. Martinborough 001 Mostly everyone enjoyed the book. Very perspective of family dynamics. Beautifully written; Lively crafts her stories with great skill. Tauranga 028 Generally, an enjoyable read. The overall consensus was that the parents were a disfunctional lot and Ingrid kept the home and children functioning well. Blenheim 007 We had a good discussion about the book. Some of us thought at first that it was a bit slight but others pointed out how well the author had described each character and observed the differences. We liked the family setting and we had some very interesting contributions which arose from the different family situations of the members of the group...Towards the end we liked the way the author dealt with each character in turn when they became adults and managed their own lives - even Paul who had such difficulty in finding a niche. KatiKati 001
Pages
260
260
Year
2009
2009
Reviews
11-05-2023
We really enjoyed this book because of its subtlety, and how cleverly she drew out the personality of her characters through actions and interactions rather than telling us how things happened. The house itself was very evocatively re-created through the family's recollections and was something of a character in the story itself.
03-08-2022
We enjoyed the relationships between all the characters - the author did a great job of portraying all the different personalities in the family.
15-02-2021
A wide variety of opinions. But many enjoyed the quick humour and deep perceptions of family life. Many commented on what a good writer Penelope Lively is. Those who spoke negatively felt the characters of the siblings were not developed enough. Others felt confused by all the characters.
15-02-2021
An interesting tale of life in one family - sparked some great discussion. Not a gripping read, but entertaining and thought provoking.
15-02-2021
Some people enjoyed the book and its themes - created interesting discussion in the group about families and family relationships. Several people found it uninteresting - too many other better books out there than a book about middle class English family trivia.
15-02-2021
Predictable but enjoyable, the book generated a lot of discussion which broadened into personal family reminiscenses.
15-02-2021
A mixed reception for 'Family Album'. Two of us greatly enjoyed it, however the rest were "luke-warm".
15-02-2021
Penelope Lively is always worth reading. This is one of her best! Highly intelligent, humorous dissection of life in a large family through their memories. Highly recommended.
15-02-2021
11/12 members loved this book - clever, enjoyable and with characters well developed.
15-02-2021
Enjoyed by all present. Didn't bring forth a lot of discussion. Interesting but a bit contrived.
15-02-2021
Half were unmoved by the story and felt it was rather boring, a couple never finished it. Others really enjoyed it but were Penelope Lively fans. It did however, provoke much discussion, not so much about the story itself, more how some of it reflected in our experiences.
01-11-2019
No-one's favourite book for the year, but enjoyed by all members and generated a long discussion about families.
24-05-2019
Everyone enjoyed this book, but some got confused at the beginning trying to get all the names of the characters sorted out. Some characters were more developed than others and were at times seemed to be "typecast", eg the bad son, the good daughter.The discussion that resulted travelled further than the contents of the book into family life in general, both in the past and present. It was interesting to note that only one person came from a family of six and her stories helped us understand the dynamics of a family when there was over 10 years between the oldest and youngest members.
31-10-2018
Most enjoyed this title, and it generated a lot of discussion, especially about sibling relationships. There was some feeling that it lacked a real plot though and didn't seem to go anywhere with the storyline, but the writing style was good and painted a very real perspective on the intricacies of family life, especially that of a large family. The characters were well written but they weren't particularly likeable. The whole idea of a large chaotic family being all loving and close certainly came under scrutiny.