Consequences: Something Logical or Naturally That Follows, 28 Jul 2007 4.5 stars "Consequences: Something that logically or naturally follows from an action or condition. The relation of a result to its cause. A logical conclusion or inference." Dictonarly.com "The women are buffeted by events but do not break. The consequences come from their refusal to conform; which generally leads to happiness." Ruaridh Nicoll. Penelope Lively manages to tell a story of three generations of women, from the early 1930's to the present. The book is always emotionally full. There's nothing stingy in Lively's language. Each sentence gives the feel of conveying the story and emotions of the moment; it's describing without being fussed over. The combining of personal life and historical events is a familiar aspect of Penelope Lively's fiction In "Consequences," crucial encounters occur by sheer chance. This latest story begins in 1935, with an unhappy rich girl, Lorna, sitting weeping on a bench in St James's Park. Nearby, a young man, Matt, sketches the ducks. "Their accidental meeting will later be described as the opening of a game of consequences, from which flows a long, rich narrative." Lively's stories of the experience of love in the lives of three generations of women in one family enables her to explore the changing sceneries of English society and the role of women. Lorna and Matt and their child, Molly. Molly develops into a a beautiful young woman and has a child, at her wish, out of wedlock. Later on Molly mnarres and her life begins again. Ruth. the daughter carries on the tradition of independence and marries, has children and the natural consequences follow. 'Consequences' has a great feel and story lines. For me,it falls short of developing the characters in depth. The story jumps from one decade to the next with little preparation. The prose is elegant, the plotting meticulous but unobtrusive. Some of the male characters are sketchy but the three women - in many ways, one woman seen at different times - are sensitively portrayed. Her characters' memories "are stashed away now, like reels of film, to be replayed at will." And Penelope Lively not only replays those memories, but also shows the invisible connections between her characters. Consequences reminds me of novels I have loved by the likes of the American writer Jim Harrison, with their belief that people are, on the whole, good and their struggle, noble. Harrison's stories were of hardened men battling for existence on the plains of America, while Penelope Lively sets her scene in the literary festivals of the English lands. "And "Consequences," despite its shadows, is also a joyous ever-widening dance. At its center shimmers the idea of resiliency, of the continuity of humankind as embodied in one family, shattered and reconstituted, fragile, stubborn, enduring." Nancy Kline I often speak of a novel that affected me as a journey. Penelope Lively's 'Consequence' is a return for me of the storyline that brings me great satisfaction. Her prose and her style bring me to a new place each read. A traditional novel that equates great love to great happiness. Highly Recommended. prisrob 07-11-07
The stories of three generations of women told in sparse but elegant prose, Lively covers 70 years of social history in England, begining just before WWII, in this rather short novel, with characters entering and leaving the stage often. Of the three female protagonists, the grandmother Lorna and mother Molly emerge, play their roles in centre stage, and exit rather suddenly and it is left to daughter Ruth to tie the loose ends and bring the novel to its circular close.The character's lives are probably echoed in many women who lived during this period, but it is in the telling that this story comes alive. Lorna loves beneath her social class, falls for the engraver Matt, spends a few idylic years with him in a farmhouse which Matt adorns with frescos celebrating their love life, and loses him to the battle for Crete. Molly has an affair with a benevolent boss and art collector, gives birth to Ruth, but never marries her lover, because she does not love him. Ruth marries and has two children but in an age when divorce has become easier, leaves her husband and her loveless marriage to live an independant life. All three women find love eventually with other men, but not without long periods of aloneness and a dawning of self-awareness in-between. There are parallels between the women too - all of them are attracted to men of the arts, all find work in and around the arts and all are surrounded from start to end by step-grandad Lukas and his aging printing press that becomes the fulcrum of their lives.The author's style is unconventional, as tenses are juxtaposed, second and third person narratives are mixied, dialogue is intellectual and loaded with social commentary, and passive voice is used frequently - all "bad habits" that writing schools tell us to avoid - but here it seems to work - which reminds me of the newer adage, "If it works - use it!"
What do You think about Consequences (2007)?
E' questa la funzione dei libri: offrono un punto di vista, anzi, molti punti di vista conflittuali, stimolano il pensiero, provocano fastidio e ammirazione, fanno meditare. Portano chiunque li legga lontano da sé e lo lasciano in un posto da cui non tornerà mai completamente.Questo libro mi ha trasportato nelle vite di tre donne, tre generazioni della stessa famiglia (via matriarcale) a Londra, dagli anni '30 a oggi. Affascinanti le scelte, più o meno conformiste, sicuramente ragionate e sentite, delle tre protagoniste.
—Roberta
I really like P. Lively – there’s a certain something about the way she writes. Big things are understated while little things are lovingly described in great detail. I see from other reviews that a lot of people feel the characters in Consequences were given short shrift in an effort to create this short multi-generational saga. For me, Lively pulled it off & it was a success. I felt like rather than creating fully fledged life stories for these characters, Lively was creating a sense of the timelessness of life, life flowing on, characters coming & going, each individual’s choices creating consequences for someone else, & though our choices may seem momentous to us, & they may BE momentous in that moment –still whatever happens, for someone life goes on, & people throughout the generations want the same things – to give & receive love, be free of war, to find enjoyable work, maybe have children, have a nice place to live. Every character is important and yet - also not - it's kind of Zen! I also love that one of her themes in this book is that love may be found in unexpected places with unexpected people! I thought it was a lovely, gentle book with, also, a wonderful sense of place—the descriptions of the cottage in Somerset in particular were just gorgeous.
—Marigold
The other night at dinner I had an argument with one of my most bookish friends about Penelope Lively. There is something about Lively's writing and favourite themes that appeals to me enormously. She is imaginatively obsessed with time, and those unforeseen moments when life turns on a dime -- and so am I. The whole "if I hadn't sat on this particular park bench at this particular time" my life would have taken an entirely different course. There is a strong sense that chance and accident are at least as important as any of the conscious choices that we make. My friend feels that there is something too small, too domestic, too repetitive about Lively's work -- but I seem to enjoy it for all of those reasons. There is a gentle philosophising and musing at the heart of everything she writes. This is a simple story of three generations of women: mother, daughter and granddaughter. Although dramatic things happen to the women, some of them quite tragic, there is a feeling that everything is being observed from an emotional remove. We just get glimpses, enough to see a larger pattern of connections. Perhaps it isn't a challenging read, but it is an oddly comforting one.
—Beth Bonini
