In the world of classic British fiction, the one Vinnie knows best, almost the entire population is under fifty, or even under forty - as was true of the real world when the novel was invented. Now, at last, all those books have no instructions for her, no demands - because she is just too old. On being 54: "English literature, to which in early childhood she had given her deepest trust, and which for half a century has suggested what she might do, think, feel, desire, and become, has suddenly fallen silent. It's technically a good book but I'm not as interested in fictional sex as the author presumably must be. The writing style reminded me of Carol Shields from the same time period. 54 year old college professor Vinnie is a fascinating character and I enjoyed reading her point of view on a variety of subjects, but 29 year old Fred's point of view revolved around his sexual relationship with his soon-to-be-ex wife and then stalking his new ex-girlfriend and I found him tiresome. Clue: it's about sex (but avoids Bad Sex in Fiction Award writing and won a Pulitzer Prize instead). After I began I realised I've read this before, at least a quarter of a century ago though so I didn't remember anything about it. I also read Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie, which is a 1984 novel about two lonely USian academic scholars in London.
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