Book Blurb:
Lawrence Weston is a penniless painter who stumbles into Selina’s orbit one night and can never let her go even while knowing someone of her stature could never end up with someone of his. Except Selina falls hard for Lawrence, envisioning a life of true happiness. But when tragedy strikes, Selina finds herself choosing what’s safe over what’s right.
My Review: 4 stars
The Glittering Hour swept me away to England and put me in the heart of the main character, Selina. Although she is known as a “Bright Young Thing”, which epitomizes the young socialites of the times, she’d rather follow her own path and escape her life of riches.
The book is told in two timelines, Selina’s in the 1920s and her daughter’s, in the early 30s. Selina recounts her life through letters to her daughter, that include clues and treasure hunts so Alice can understand how she came into being. Alice was sent with her nanny to live at her stern and critical grandmother’s house. Her spunk and curiosity of the world will touch you deeply. I adored her.
The writing is detailed, lyrical and pressing, which allows the reader to be part of everything. There is an epic love story woven through the book that had the right amount of tension, happiness and sorrow. The mother/daughter relationship between Selina and Anna is at the crux of the book. It’s a book about choices, taking the easy way or the hard way. It’s about loss, that will make you weep. The war has touched everyone and is a cloud that hangs over the characters.
I’ve never read Iona Grey before and I understand that her first book was fantastic as well. In looking her up, I learned that the “Bright Young Things” were actually a vivid part of English society. It’s apparent that the author did an immense amount of research in crafting this story.
Note: I listened to the book, rather than read the copy provided by the publisher. The audio version was extremely well-narrated.
Quotes I liked:
Please know, my dearest darling, how much I miss you — every moment — and how I’m longing to be back with you soon. Have courage, brave girl. In a world that is small enough for the same moon to hang over us both, we can’t ever be too far apart.”
“Think about today, not tomorrow. Dance over the cracks so you don’t fall into them. Drink champagne in the afternoons and invent ridiculous cocktails to make the ruined world glitter again. Keep going, one foot in front of the other. Don’t look down.”
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