Flowering Thorn Comes Up Roses!
After reading this book sometime in the 60's - a copy checked out of the local library - I fell in love with it. Later, I wanted to reread it, but lo and behold! The copy had disappeared from the library and, since it was out of print, I couldn't find one anywhere. After searching antique shop shelves for thirty years with no luck, and previous frustrating searches on the internet, I scored a copy from Alibris within about 10 minutes! The Flowering Thorn was as good as I remembered, maybe even better! It is a thoroughly enjoyable read, one which I will read again and again.
The Flowering Thorn is, as the name implies, a transformation story. It concerns a 20ish single woman, Lesley Frewen, who seems to lead a magical life. She lives in a style that probably only existed in London in the late 1920's. A perfect apartment in a perfect location: "The waiting list for the smaller apartments was as long as Deuteronomy." Her life consisted of sleeping late, primping, shopping, and partying. Relationships lasted as long as her attention span would allow, or a person's usefulness - party invitations, introducing her to young men - lasted. Then an incredible, seemingly out-of-character thing happened: she took on the raising of Patrick Craigie, the 5-year-old orphaned son of her aunt's former companion. This decision of Lesley's leads to a cascade of changes, as she hasn't the money to raise a child and live in the city, so she has to move to a cottage in the country. Lesley knows nothing of children, has never so much as boiled an egg (she has all her food sent from Harrod's at first!), and she walks the long way to the village (can't afford a car) to avoid the eyes of her neighbors, who all seem so nosy! How Lesley's character flowers during the next three years, before Patrick is sent away to school at 8 years old, is told in Margery Sharp's style of writing that is so engaging and funny that at times I laughed out loud, and had to read passages to my husband to explain my hilarity! I found the descriptions of English society at the time, and of life in the country, delightful. This is one book that I would like see made into a movie!
