9.Fenny: Lettice Cooper.
I was browsing on Borrowbox when I came across this title and grabbed it.
Fenny is set in Florence before the outbreak of ww2 (this is why I grabbed it, because of the setting. I also remembered really liking The New House by the same author). Ellen Fenwick is a schoolteacher who leaves Yorkshire to go to Florence for a summer break following the death of her mother. Her little charge, Juliet, affectionately calls her 'Fenny'.
The book is set out in four parts, and dips in and out of Fenny's life from when she starts living in Florence to the end of the war and a bit beyond. The war years are the shortest section and are nearly skimmed over. The threat of war is like a dot on the horizon and Fenny is slow to realise what the implications are for her situation as an English citizen in Italy. She is immersed in life at the villa and busy falling in love with a surly young man to notice much of what is going on around her, although she gradually does start to pay attention.
The years pass and Fenny remains single, even though she continues to have attachments to unsuitable men. Her greatest attachment in a way is to Florence and Italy, which she comes to regard as her home.
I liked this book very much for its description of the countryside around Florence and Italian life. I like books that span across years and the reader can see what happens to the protagonist over time. We also see the youngsters grow up and become almost like Fenny's own children.
Fenny is a sympathetic character and while naive in the beginning, she becomes wiser over time as she figures out how to read people and stand up for herself as a single, independent woman.
This is a well-written book with interesting characters (although somewhat stereotypical with regard to the two Italian women) and some lovely insights by Cooper on the deep patterns in our lives, closely knit, even if we don't see them ourselves. Recommended for those who like a rather dated read.
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