Lively's complete short stories (they're all here) showcase how well she writes.

Lively is especially adept at illustrating how a person comes to change (change one's mind, change one's attitude, fall out of love, grow up, et cetera). Lucky for the reader, many if not all of these stories work with the theme of how a person does change. Again and again, we see that she is remarkably good at constructing the feelings and thoughts of adolescents, and this reviewer suspects it is partly because Lively has indelible memories of her own amazing childhood; read also her Oleander, Jacaranda autobiographical work, hinted at in the marvelous short story about an English girl returning from a childhood in colonial India.

Lively is purely talented as a wordsmith, with amazing economy and clever, rather elegantly composed dialogue. The book is excellent from start to finish.

In this collection of short stories, Penelope Lively conjurs up worlds and characters and prose that touch the heart and often bring laughter and tears. The deftness of the writing is astonishing. This book is a perfect bedside companion for all seasons.

This is one of the best collections of short stories I have ever read! Penelope Lively is right on target in terms of believable settings and trenchant characterization with one story in particular, "Nothing But the Samovar", being one of the most memorable.

I read "According to Mark" with special interest as it is a novel about a man writing a biography-- and I am myself writing a biography. Penelope Lively raises all sorts of interesting issues such as: Can the subject change the course of the biographer's life? Does the past still exist? This is the eighth novel I've read by Lively, and she does not disappoint.I highly recommend this novel by this intelligent, amusing and, yes, lively writer!

I am sorry that this one is out of print and hope that it will be reissued soon! I think this is one of the great Penelope Lively's finest novels. It's a page-turner, a skillful interweaving of infidelity, the English countryside, travels abroad, meditations on the writing of history and books, and realistic observations of such foibles as romantic delusion and academic pompousness. Ultimately it is a forgiving tale. I couldn't relate to any one particular character but felt I recognized them all.

At 54 Pavillion Road, home of the Dixon family, great adventurers lie underfoot and hidden in the walls. The deftly-drawn characters of Willy the earnest but short-sighted terrier, Nat the intrepid Pill Bug, his friend the spider, and Sam the show-off mouse and his long-suffering wife, Doris, their all-too human foibles and mishaps made me and my ten year old laugh out loud. Each chapter tells a different, but beguiling tale about one of the inhabitants of the inside-out house; major dramas of which the Dixons remain blithely unaware. Ostensibly a child's book, but one which relies refreshingly on everyday life for its subject and teaches no greater moral than, aren't we all silly, it makes for delightful inter-generational reading.

Ian Andrew illustrates In Search Of A Homeland, a story of the Aneid and a tale of war which will appeal to any student of Greek mythology and history. Chapters present the story with plenty of illustration and color: it's hard to peg the readers and age group of this title, which will reach from grades 5-8.

I can't believe that this book is out of print! Lively is one of the best British writers still working today. YOu have to admire her gift for writing things simply--but writing them simply better than anyone else.

This book is ostensibly about a religious painting in a small town in England, but what it really is is a reflection of the people who live there, the changes in their lives, and their own faith. Claire Paling, an agnostic, is the heroine who comes to understand not only the meaning of the painting, but the importance of faith in the lives of the people around her.

You will not be able to put this book down, it's so well-written. Fortunately, it's a quick read.

This is a wonderful book for children of all ages. My daughter adores the colorful pages. This is the book she must hear every night at bedtime. Often, one reading will not do. I recommend it to parents who are tired of the blah books normally written for children. This is a stunner.

"The Road to Lichfield" is similar to Penelope Lively's other books in that it is a well-written, acutely observed portrait of intelligent, interesting characters. As a narrative device she listens in on or recreates snippets of the consciousness of various characters. The effect of this device for me is that the characters seem utterly real. In this particular story, the main character, Anne, middle-aged, married to a priggish and uncommunicative but solid and responsible solicitor, finds her ideas about herself and her family all suddenly called into question when she learns new information about her dying father and when she falls in love with a new acquaintance. Add Anne's involvement with a project to save a decaying but historic old building from demolition, and Anne has plenty of material for exploration of her ideas about the past.

The author is a historian, apparently with an interest in old buildings. I enjoyed the descriptions of the British countryside and life style, and some minor characters were delightful.

This book is extremely well written but you won't like it if you don't like novels where the main focus is on social relationships.

A truely great work of understated beauty by a writer of grace and style.

This is a wonderful story of three children, who inadvertantly bring Morgan le Fay back into power. Based in Oxfordshire, it utilises a famous stone circle, the Whispering Knights.

Written in the typical Lively easy to read style, it's a great children's story with a good mix of magic and modern sensibilities. It has long been one of my favourites and still gets a re-read even though I'm 20 years past the demographic.

So a few people might wander in here (not many, I admit, the book being inexplicably out of print) and wonder what this book is about, and if it is worth searching for, and see the one review, and think "gee, only one review again, I hope this person gives me something to go on past the usual blather"

Well, this is a childrens' book which adults can equally enjoy (as with all good books, age is irrelevant) It's a story about a fish out of water, as are many of Lively's books. A girl goes for a holiday at small town somewhere in England or Scotland. Somehow, her friends of the past have grown away from her. "The Wild Hunt" refers to a yearly tradition, whereby the villiagers don costumes (strange masks with horns) to take part in a time-honored ritual. Except this year, something is different. The ritual seems real, is real, and Lively's young protagonist is the subject of the hunt.

Gripping story line, slow, suspensful build up, lot's of local color and interest. A truely compelling and unerving story, for fans of fantasy and horror, but as I said, quite suitable for children older than around eleven. If you like Astercote you will love this.

That's the best I can do, given the limitations of twenty passing years. If you can, get your hands on a copy! And for heavens sakes write to some of these ignorant publishing houses that allow excellent books like this one to go out of print. Charge us more for single copies if you need to, but not making them avaliable, well, you might as well burn them.