Class portrait Nobody else writes about middle England so acutely
The London Standard|November 07, 2024
Tessa Hadley's first novella depicts women in refreshing ways
ALEX PEAKE-TOMKINSON
Class portrait Nobody else writes about middle England so acutely

There is no one who writes better about middle-class life in 20th- and 21st-century Britain than Tessa Hadley. She knows just the right details, even if they sometimes get repeated across her fiction: both Jill in The Past and Phyllis in Free Love wear the Nina Ricci perfume L’Air du Temps, for example. Perfume aside, this is Hadley’s first novella and its first chapter was originally published as a short story, Vincent’s Party, in The New Yorker.

One winter's night in post-war Bristol, Evelyn - on the cusp of adulthood - is getting ready for an art students' party: "She hoped that she looked spectacular, hair scraped back from her face like a dancer's and breasts thrust up in a new brassiere." This seems to me a far more realistic description of how young women feel about their looks, rather than being riven with self-loathing about their appearance or being one of the many accidental beauties who populate contemporary fiction (these unassuming stunners appear in even the very best novels: for example, most of Gwendoline Riley's heroines and also many of Sally Rooney's would fit the bill).

Esta historia es de la edición November 07, 2024 de The London Standard.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición November 07, 2024 de The London Standard.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE THE LONDON STANDARDVer todo
Vamos Rafa! It's time to go for Spain's brave warrior
The London Standard

Vamos Rafa! It's time to go for Spain's brave warrior

'Shy and funny' Nadal bows out as sport's ultimate competitor

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 21, 2024
Does Angeball have a winning future at Spurs?
The London Standard

Does Angeball have a winning future at Spurs?

Head coach divides supporters with his ultra-attacking tactics

time-read
5 minutos  |
November 21, 2024
The £5bn-a-year tax timebomb that's set to devastate London hospitality
The London Standard

The £5bn-a-year tax timebomb that's set to devastate London hospitality

The capital will bear the brunt of Rachel Reeves’s National Insurance raid

time-read
4 minutos  |
November 21, 2024
Live like a Queen...
The London Standard

Live like a Queen...

...in the house gifted to Anne of Cleves by Henry VIII in 1540 and now onsale for 3.75 million

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 21, 2024
At home with...Matthew Williamson
The London Standard

At home with...Matthew Williamson

The designer’s Belsize Park flatis a grand canvas for his ever-changing colour palette

time-read
5 minutos  |
November 21, 2024
Hidden London
The London Standard

Hidden London

The first time I made my way to Maison Assouline was with a broken foot, in a tragic boot and crutches.

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 21, 2024
Jameela Jamil on why New York will always have her heart...
The London Standard

Jameela Jamil on why New York will always have her heart...

..and her stomach. The actor and activist shares her favourite brunch spot, a secret bar and her brownstone fantasies

time-read
6 minutos  |
November 21, 2024
The London Standard

My life in bespoke suits

Back in the Eighties, suits were so wide that even the shoulder pads had shoulder pads. Suits back then were boxy, square, and designed to make you look like a quarterback, a bouncer or a tank.

time-read
4 minutos  |
November 21, 2024
Cher's wild world
The London Standard

Cher's wild world

The singer's memoir is full of jaw-dropping tales

time-read
4 minutos  |
November 21, 2024
'I was told I could stay in the UKthen kicked out of my asylum accommodation'
The London Standard

'I was told I could stay in the UKthen kicked out of my asylum accommodation'

As our appeal hits 1m, we turn the spotlight on an official policy that’s making newly recognised refugees homeless

time-read
7 minutos  |
November 21, 2024