Nightingale Wood Life is not quite a fairytale for poor Viola Left penniless the young widow is forced to live with her late husband s family in a joyless old house There s Mr Wither a tyrannical old miser Mrs With
Life is not quite a fairytale for poor Viola Left penniless, the young widow is forced to live with her late husband s family in a joyless old house There s Mr Wither, a tyrannical old miser, Mrs Wither, who thinks Viola is just a common shop girl, and two unlovely sisters in law, one of whom is in love with the chauffeur.
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[PDF] Download ☆ Nightingale Wood : by Stella Gibbons Sophie Dahl
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Stella Gibbons Sophie Dahl
I loved Cold Comfort Farm, Gibbons debut novel the film is also wonderful, if you haven t seen it , so I was excited to hear about this book I never thought to look into it but Gibbons wrote quite a few novels in her day this is her ninth And, written and set prior to the outbreak of WWII, it was perfect for the currently running 1930s Mini Challenge hosted by things mean a lot.From the opening line, you know you re in for one of those wonderfully witty, sharply ironic stories that cast an appra [...]
this review refers to the audiobook version oh what fun like jane austen with icky peopleis book tends toward a dim view of the human race, which is quite fine with me there s the father in law, who wants only to get his paws on other people s money his low wattage wife, who must have never met an intellectual challenge she didn t run shrieking from his eldest daughter, a spinster so cold she can love only a dog his youngest daughter, whose chances for marriage are a candle in the wind and the f [...]
A very funny, very smart novel about upper middle class life in late 1930 s England Two families, separated by a woodland where The Hermit, the town drunk and squatter lives, come together in unlikely ways when Viola, the Withers widowed daughter in law, arrives and chaos starts brewing Lots of wit, some tongue in cheek moments and just enough sadness to make all of the lovely bits sting just a bit If you liked Cold Comfort Farm you will probably like this one For the longer review, please go h [...]
Recently reissued by Virago Modern Classics Yay Because there isn t much plot description on GR I am stealing Robin McKinley s review from her blog until I actually get to read this myself.Viola Thompson is a shop girl with no prospects and, having no prospects, somewhat reluctantly accepts the proposal of a dull young man named Theodore Wither, because she is not likely to have any others Theodore, however, is so convenient, or inconvenient, as to die after a year of marriage and Viola goes to [...]
I read this book when on a Stella Gibbons kick, after reading Cold Comfort Farm She s a really interesting figure to me, Gibbons, because she wrote SO much, but is pretty much only known for Cold Comfort Farm, which is, of course, delightful But she was a prolific writer, and just jumped all over the place with her books That s cool Most people don t do that In Nightingale Wood, we have the story of class clash in a small English town That s what this book is all about class, interest, keeping m [...]
I really enjoyed this book.If like me you ve been a long time fan of Cold Comfort Farm, then you ll love this one as well.If you ve never read Stella Gibbons before then the best description I can come up with is that it s like Jane Austen but about 120 years later, with a very dry wicked sense of humour and just a little bit of sex.It was written in 1938 and it s a story about people, their social position, manners and relationships There s also an interwoven social commentary about the differe [...]
If this hadn t been written by Stella Gibbons, I think I d have rated it highly But the power of the Brand is such that I judge NW by CCF and it just doesn t measure up There are some delightfully cutting remarks, and some pleasant enough scene setting But Part of the problem is that none of the characters are particularly sympathetic or, at least, every scene that might elicit some sympathy for one person or another is followed by an antidote That can work well enough if there is a thorough go [...]
Such a wonderful introduction for me into the work of Stella Gibbons I loved the storytelling in this book Apart from the Cinderella like romance developing in the centre of the story there were many side plots and interesting emotional connections Gibbons has a talent for describing a scene in the most poetic of terms and then abruptly bringing the reader very sharply down to earth with a comic observation What was also very pleasing was the tidying away of all the little subplots in satisfying [...]
From BBC Radio 4 Extra On either side of Nightingale Wood through one idyllic year in the late 1930s, hearts beat and minds scheme, as the dowdy Wither family tries to compete with the glittering Springs Bookish Tina Wither is in love with Saxon, her father s handsome and aloof chauffeur Her shopgirl sister in law, Viola, has fallen for Victor Spring, the lord of the manor And Madge is in love with a dog.
Nightingale Wood is a really delightful Cinderella type tale from the author who of course is better known for having brought us Cold Comfort Farm However I think that the novel is a little deceptive, it is not as light as it may appear, and there is a complexity and poignancy to it that is especially well done Gibbons has captured a rural community of the 1930 s with its class divisions and restrictions, highlighting the differing social positions of her characters and the way those positions a [...]
Holds its own with Elizabeth Taylor at her most wry Gibbons has an appealingly unsettling style, always on the knife edge between sentimentalism and cynicism or even nastiness The gruesomeness and pathos of the Withers household and its tyrannical patriarch only slowly become clear as the novel builds Mr Withers at first glance appears as a cartoonish miser, though the novel develops his character along with the others in ways that belie his reduction to mere type At the moment her characters ap [...]
I read this because I m crazy about Gibbons s famous novel Cold Comfort Farm Seriously, I m in love with that book This one I liked quite a bit, but it wasn t nearly as outright satirical and laugh out loud in public funny as Cold Comfort Farm Nightgale Wood is entertaining, well written, a bit cliche, but Gibbons took the stereotypical novel and gave it a bit of self awareness The story knows it follow the standard storyline, and the voice points out its own silliness Very entertaining Didn t [...]
This is my first review on rather than Shelfari so lets see how it goes NIghtingale Wood is very different from Cold Comfort Farm, not as funny, but a lovely little read with an wonderful story It is an excellent pick me up book for those suffering from set backs such as Shelfari closing down and past reviews not moving to.
Nightingale Wood is like Barbie and Ken meet Cinderella Viola and Victor are so pathetic, yet you can t help but be entertained by their banter Here s a sampling The setting an intimate dinner between Victor and the innocently pure widow Viola after a chance meeting at a hotel Victor asks Viola, who s been polishing off half a bottle of champagne Victor Aren t you afraid of getting tight Viola No, I ve got a very good head Victor roars Victor You have, have you What do you usually drink Viola Oh [...]
I wish I had the time to write a longer review, because there s so much I loved and want to share about Nightingale Woodbut I don t So I ll just say that I simply loved it It was funny, wistful, goofy, thoughtfuletty much everything I want in a book Well, some fisticuffs would have been nice There are some, but they mostly occur off stage I ll also note that this book is not just about Viola Hetty and Tina are main characters in their own right, and I enjoyed their stories tremendously, Tina s i [...]
More a two and a half than a three It passed, but barely Stella Gibbons cleverness is evident here her biting, honest descriptions of her characters personalities and habits are this novel s saving grace but the plot meanders and drags, too many characters seem pointless, and others would have benefited for screen time that could have been achieved through sacrificing the less important ones Hetty, while not exactly likable, was at least interesting and sympathetic Much so than Viola herself, [...]
Okay, this is not a serious read, but just good fun I love the author s sense of humor this modern published in 1938 take on the Cinderella story is full of quirky characters and plenty of subtle laughs Her Cold Comfort Farm is one of my faves, and this was of the same.A few samples No one was surprised to hear that Saxon and Tina had been carrying on ever since the summer People had been using their eyes, putting two and two together, comparing notes Besides, everyone had expected it The first [...]
Just delightful modernized Cinderella story set in the mid 30s, if Cinderella had been written by a snarkier and less earnest and less sympathetic George Eliot Or maybe just Jane Austen if she d had a different life Full of gems of passages that made me laugh out loud, such as Oh dear, I am so tired Mrs Wither patted away a yawn and ruefully bent to rub her evening shoe, wherein a faithful corn was undergoing martyrdom But right alongside the snark there is lots of beautiful and sincere writing [...]
actually didn t finish this one s very long from Inter Library Loan and due but it just didn t capture my attention enough to try to renew it funny moments, but overall, it seemed like work to read it not funny enough i usually finish books even when i don t like them my OCD but am trying to get over it, and stop forcing myself to finish books that don t grab my fancyfar too many great books out there to find i will read Cold Comfort Farm as that rec d much impressive ratings and reviews this a [...]
I think I actually liked this better than Cold Comfort Farm because at the end, no one was forced to change who they were or give up their better side Everybody got to be purely his herself, all the way through, and come to their own versions of a happy ending Stella Gibbons had a gift for drawing flawed, fully human characters and making them lovable despite their inevitable snobbery, sourness, or materialism Almost all of them have a core of some sort of decency or goodness that makes you want [...]
At first, Nightingale Wood appears to be the b____ child as its characters might say of Pride and Prejudice, The Importance of Being Earnest, Cinderella, and Pygmalion, all tidily packaged in the well to do British countryside of the late 1930s Those who have read Gibbons Cold Comfort Farm do people still read Cold Comfort Farm will wonder if it s to be taken as straight comedy or as parody the answer, perhaps, is yes By the end, though, a different voice is heard it s sweet and a bit heartbreak [...]
Effervescent and charming A glittering British country life adaptation of Cinderella that satirizes the class divisions of pre WWII English life and blithely demonstrates the forces that began to erode the bulwarks even before the onslaught of the war I only wish it wasn t marred by characters expressing the casual anti Semitism and racism that was so typical of the era Luckily the references are slight and, given the overall ironic tone of the novel, not nearly as offensive as Miss Pettigrew Li [...]
So, while this book was interesting, it had waay to many things wrong with it to make me happy So, Victor asks Viola to run away with him not married she says no, she s better than that, and then he realizes he loves her and asks her to marry him and everything s happy and okay The characters all felt semi interesting, but were really empty of any true humanity that they stuck on the page Plus, most were all so air headed there was nothing to relate to I m sure there was I disliked about it, or [...]
Loved it Loved it What a delicious read The predicament of the unmarried woman.Reading about the 1930 s in a book written in the 1930 s, with references to fascism, Hitler and anti semitism How different would the world look just 10 years later I could not help but wonder if Stella Gibbons would have sent Saxon to war.What about Victor Would she have made Madge a WREN Would Hetty perhaps have served at Bletchley Park Oh I wish she would have written a sequel.
Not perhaps as laugh out loud funny as Cold Comfort Farm, but still a great comedy about the bored English upper class living in the big houses in the countryside And I quite liked Viola though I can sense she is not everyone s cup of tea
Not quite the light, charming read I had expected but I won t complain about nuanced, complex characters and a interesting story I love Gibbons dry wit and wry observations re class and society and human nature, etc.
Tried to make myself keep reading this, since I d purchased it to listen to from Audible, but I just can t do it There s absolutely no plot to speak of, and I m almost halfway done listening, and it just drones on and on and on
This was a delight to read Gibbons has a very elegant and beautiful writing style and I love her caricatures Set against the backdrop of a fairy tale storyline, the novel gives a humorous commentary about class and prejudice.
La verdad, pens que me iba a gustar m s de lo que lo ha hecho No llega a tener el sentido del humor de Wodehouse ni la fina iron a de Austen, aunque el ambiente recuerda a ambos Entretenido, sin m s.
sounds cornball and silly, but this cinderella parody does something that keeps many parodies from being funny it respects the characters, who are marvellously flawed i.e normal people