'She hoped one day to find the image she unconsciously sought, without knowing why she sought it, something to lift the spirits, to transport her on an imaginary journey, to give a hint of the transcendence which was so blatantly lacking in her everyday life of words and paper.'
Sister Beatrice and Miriam have each other, but they were never close. Beatrice is a pianist, a romantic, while Miriam is disillusioned after a failed marriage. Living together yet failing to confide in one another, each is haunted by the mistakes they have made and the opportunities squandered.
Both know that one day they will be forced to part, that they will each fall alone. So when Beatrice contemplates a future with Max, Miriam wonders whether the time has come sooner than she believed...
"Anita Brookner works a spell on the reader; being under it is both an education and a delight."--The Washington Post Book World
"Brookner's control over the material is absolute."--Jane Smiley
"Under Brookner's transforming eye, the most ordinary lives become engrossing adventures."-- San Francisco Chronicle
"If Henry James were around, the only writer he'd be reading with complete approval would be Anita Brookner."--The New York Times Book Review
"Brookner is a writer of great skill and precision. Passages of brilliant writing abound, hard-won insights that startle us with Brookner's clarity and succinct intelligence."--Michael Dorris, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"Brookner's impeccable craftsmanship and worldly irony make each of her novels memorable."--Publishers Weekly
Praise for Anita Brookner:
"Few contemporary novelists can match Ms. Brookner's consistently high level of achievement: the penetration of her vision, the sense of conviction in what she is doing, and the unforced elegance of her writing."--The Wall Street Journal
