"How It All Began," by Penelope Lively

Penelope Lively was one of the very first authors I wrote about here (1/25/10), and she is one of my favorite living writers. Just a few of the reasons, in no particular order, that I loved reading her new novel, “How It All Began” (Viking, 2011):
1. Lively is simply one of the very best writers writing today, so a new novel by her is an occasion.
2. Lively understands human nature, human relationships, and especially human families, better than almost any other writer.
3. Lively’s fiction is realistic. It focuses on everyday events, not on shocking or farfetched happenings. Lively has the gift of making readers really care about those everyday events.
4. Lively’s writing is very readable.
5. Lively writes about people of all ages, including middle-aged and older people, which is most welcome to those of us no longer young.
6. This novel takes place in London.
7. Some of the characters in this novel misbehave a bit, but most of them are basically good people. Some of them know that sometimes one doesn’t get to have what one wants, because it isn’t the right thing, and are willing to “do the right thing,” even at great personal cost.
8. There is an intellectual thread throughout the novel: the idea that one small, random event can start a chain of events, with a ripple effect of sometimes surprising consequences. This concept adds to the interest of the novel, but is not insisted on, and doesn’t overwhelm the plot/character aspects of the novel.
9. Lively’s main character often talks about what she is reading, why, and why she feels like reading different books at different times, depending on what is happening in her own life. Some of her favorites are some of mine as well (e.g., Edith Wharton, Henry James, Rosamond Lehmann).
10. The main character is a volunteer tutor, and when she tutors an Eastern European immigrant in reading English, she appeals to his love of “story,” starting with reading children’s books, including the wonderful “Charlotte’s Web.”
11. Lively writes so very well, yet makes it look easy. Her writing is not flashy, just very, very good.
I could go on and on, giving more and more reasons, but the bottom line is: read this novel, and then read more novels by this wonderful author, Penelope Lively!