A few good bits,and three likable women,not main characters sadly, but many dull repeating passages,and other faults,still if I could write such a book at 85, wild not complain! ( )

In the 80s, my favourite authors were Mary Wesley and Fay Weldon. Mary Wesley began writing in her seventies, and she died in 1997 so there are only ten novels listed at Wikipedia–which is still amazing, when you consider she was only writing for 14 years, beginning in 1983 with Jumping the Queue and ending with Part of the Furniture in 1997. I’ve only got four of these novels because I read all the others via the library. I’ve also got the BBC series based on The Camomile Lawn (1984), and somewhere, also the biography Wild Mary written by her son Toby Eady…
Fay Weldon (born in 1931) started writing in 1967 and is still going strong, with 42 books to her credit at Wikipedia. Last year I read and reviewed Death of a She-devil published in 2017, the same year that she published Before the War. She was 86 but her wit is as sharp as ever.

I romped through Before the War in no time, admittedly enjoying Parts 1 & 2 more than the fallout from the hapless Vivien’s death. I would have liked Vivien to surge triumphantly through life, leaving a trail of foolish people behind her. But Weldon has never opted for the happy ending: it wouldn’t be true to her world view, nor—given the historical period of the setting—to real life.
However, the characters who underestimate Vivian all come to a messy end, and serves them right. And while Weldon intrudes into the narrative to tell us that...

‘I will not distress you with Vivien forever. It is not normal in books, films or on TV for much attention to be paid to unattractive women of any age…Why should I break the rules?’ (p.7)

... in fact Weldon is, as she always is, being ironic.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/12/20/before-the-war-by-fay-weldon/ ( )

I think I don't like farce. ( )

Set in the 1920's, this story is about the life an subsequent death of Vivien.
Fay Weldon always tells intriguing stories and this is one of her best yet.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Head of Zeus via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review. ( )