Thank you for pushing me to read All Passion Spent, it was a very enjoyable experience – which you will see in a few days has spread into a third post. During the week I read a book with a negative portrayal of an older woman shuffling around in her slippers and letting the house and garden go, and it sparked quite an interesting conversation. Though the big break with the past was World War I, followed by James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses (1922). The public, as a whole, finds reassurance in longevity, and, after the necessary interlude of reaction, is disposed to recognize extreme old age as a sign of excellence. In particular Mr FitzGeorge, a forgotten acquaintance from India who has ever since been in love with her, introduces himself and they form a quiet but playful and understanding friendship.

I too enjoyed this depiction of a spirited older woman – though it’s sad that she spends much of her life (the period before the narrative opens) playing second fiddle to an often inattentive husband and family.Her children plan to share her care between them much as they divide up the family property but, completely unexpectedly, Lady Slane makes her own choice, proposing to leave fashionable Kensington for a cottage in suburban Hampstead that caught her eye decades earlier, where she will live alone except for her maidservant and please herself — for example allowing her descendants to visit only by appointment. Part 2, shorter than the others, is composed of Lady Slane's thoughts as she muses in the summer sun.

Milton defines Samson’s act of heroism as spiritually inspired but also dependent on the physical violence of the crashing pillars. The understanding and sympathy Lady Slane is suddenly about to show her great-granddaughter Deborah, who is confronted with the same problem she faced in her own girlhood. Sackville-West’s descriptions of the group’s tea parties are delightful, but Lady Slane’s private thoughts and her walks with Mr.I am merely a reader, a consumer of books for amusement and personal instruction, not a professional reviewer - and that is indeed a worthy profession, an important literary craft - so these posts are merely meant to be one person's reading responses, not scholarly reviews. All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West, a 1931 novel, was one of this British author’s most popular works. Right at the end, and it’s a bit neat, her great grand-daughter Deborah, engaged to a Duke, bursts in, lays her head on Lady Slane’s knee and sobs that she has broken the engagement and is going to be a pianist.