Product Description

Sad, funny, and whimsical, The Camomile Lawn is the story of one extended family's adventures in London during the Blitz. "A distinctive, absorbing novel, told with a true storyteller's verve, an enchanting ability to involve, touch and surprise the reader."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #920349 in Books
• Published on: 1990-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
'Told with elegance and asperity by the superb Anna Massey' -- Sunday Telegraph 'Anna Massey could read the telephone directory and I would listen. When she's reading a writer of the quality of Mary Wesley, it becomes a real pleasure.' -- Oxford Times

About the Author
Mary Wesley was born in 1912. Her education took her to the London School of Economics, and during the war, she worked in the War Office. She published her first novel, Jumping the Queue at the age of seventy. It was followed by nine more. Mary Wesley died in 2002.

Customer Reviews

One of my all-time favourites for holiday reading
Vividly paints a picture of wartime life in London and rural England, from the point of view of some unorthodox characters. It is one of my all-time favourite books - not because it is particularly 'literary' or a great classic, but because it is such an absorbing and touching read. All Mary Wesley's books are good, but this one is by far the best

War time experiences.
I found this to be a delightful story ,set firstly in just pre-war England,about a group of cousins and how they interact with each other as the war begins. I wonder if the sexual licenses taken were really a reflection of how young people felt at that time--live for all your worth today for tomorrow we'll probably be dead-- or would it have happened an any case.You really come to grips with these characters as the book is written by a woman in her 70's who HAS lived and obviously knows what she's writing about. Great read and I'll be looking for more by Mary Wesley--a woman after ny own heart.

The latest English novel I have devoured..
..and I loved it. I particularly like English settings during World War II, and this wasn't a disappointment! The adventures and misadventures of a group of cousins during the war, the sexual tension and attraction between two of them, and the general soap opera atmosphere is told in flashbacks by the cousins' elderly aunt as she is on her way to a funeral, the funeral of her own wartime lover. The book itself reminded me of "The Cazalet Chronicles" series by Elizabeth Jane Howard, which I also highly recommend, though with racier language. This is the first of Mary Wesley's novels that I have read, but it certainly won't be the last.