Sentimental yet not sappy, this beautiful book is a joy to read. Each word counts, each detail adds meaning to the novel, nothing is wasted. The result is a slim book packed with deeply felt emotion, memorable characters, lively scenes, honest human interaction, not to mention a wonderful dog and an upended sheep. Long live Mary Wesley.

Wesley has done it again! I have read a number of her works, and this is the best yet. Her writing style is very fluent, yet thoughtful as well. Sometimes her books are so steamy that it is impossible to put them down (and this is no exception). I strongly feel everyone should give any of Wesley's novels a try-- YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED. Other works of note from Mary Wesley are "The Camomile Lawn" and "A Sensible Life" to name a couple (there are several others, all superb)

I found this story among the books on tape at our local library. It was one my children had not read and so I took it out to preview it. Listening to it during my hour-long drive to and from work, I found this story haunting.

One terrible night, a cloud of some unspecified but man-made substance passes over the surface of the entire earth, causing all living organisms unfortunate enough to be found above ground to vanish suddenly. The central characters, a recently widowed mother, her son and her son's friend, awake after spending the night in a makeshift fort in the old foundation of a silo to a world in which everyone in their small English village and in the world beyond, and most of the animals, have disappeared. The only evidence that the disappeared ever existed is the hair they left behind on their pillows and in the cars that litter the roads, having crashed as soon as their drivers were gone.

What I found most haunting about the story is the way the author evokes the emptiness of the world in which the protagonists find themselves, especially its profound silence. Since the birds and insects disappeared along with most of the people and other animals, there is simply nothing to make noise. A true silence pervades the changed world, silence the survivors have never known. Many is the time since listening to The Sixth Seal that I have noted the noise that constantly surrounds us all no matter where we are - the songs of birds and buzzes of insects, music from passing cars and houses, the rumble of automobiles, distant trucks and airplanes flying high overhead.

This story focuses not on how the apocalypse happened, but on how the survivors cope with the horror of the empty new world to which they awake. The disaster described seemed particularly relevant in the age of genetically modified organisms and biological weapons. The behavior of the characters is not that of the frenetic heroes of movies, but of individuals numb with shock and struggling to find the will to survive. This story struck me as a strikingly realistic vision of how people would act in the face of a suddenly depopulated world, what choices they would face and how they might choose. I recommend it to all ages, especially as a book to listen to on a long car trip.

I found this book in a pile of discarded libary books, it was 15 years old, i was drawn to it only because i had enjoyed other Mary Wesley books. However the 'The Sixth Seal' turned out to be nothing like the rest. I found it impossible to put down, it made me comtemplate things that in my short 13 years i had never before considered. In truth the book terrifies me, but reassures me at the same time, i feel in some way perpared now for a world disaster. I am now 17 and have just rediscovered the book for the 4 time and am enjoying it just as much. What surprises me is that i have meet no one else who has let alone the book, i tried to make a friend read it but she never did, just so that i could share it with someone else. I most definitely recommend this book and i would love to hear from anyone who appreciates it as much as me.

This book is full of charm, wit and excellent writing. The characters are richly drawn, quirky and entertaining. Wesley has a way of pinning down the fine details of human behavior and showing them in a sympathetic but humorous light. Poppy's vacillations are completely understandable and her struggles to get herself unstuck from a bad relationship are tragic yet funny. Wesley gives her characters the kind of dignity that makes us love them, even when they are not being very loveable. This is the mark of a great writer.

I've read all the Mary Wesley books I can find, and this one is my favorite. It's better if you have read her _The_Camomile_ Lawn_ first; but this is a very different book, lighter-hearted than some of her stories. It is funny, sometimes touching, and refuses to turn out the way you expect. Really delightful.

This is one of those charming, clever, and witty English novels that writers -- especially women -- have been turning out since the days of Jane Austen. A lonely 17 year old girl caught up in the blitz meets a man who dies. She searches out his family home and finds contentment and love. The cast consists of mildly eccentric country types in a World War II setting. But the novel didn't teach or tell me anything of value. It's just a story.

It is so nice to read a wonderful romance novel without all the hot detailed sex scenes that American authors seem unable to write without. The was my first Wesley novel -- but it won't be my last.

The only negative thing anyone can say about Mary Wesley's novels is that there are so few of them! Not one of England's most prolific authors, Wesley is nonetheless one of its most unique writers. Each novel is a gem! (Harnessing Peacocks is my all-time favorite.) This bittersweet fairy tale concerns the intrepid Juno, who, betrayed by her girlhood heroes (a pair of beastly cousins off to fight WWII) in the worst way imaginable for a young, impressionable woman, goes on to survive and prosper, surrounded by love and affection. A triumph of the human spirit, it's a May-December romance readers will hold dear to their hearts.

I saw Zia Wesley-Hosford give a speech in San Antonio Texas in April. She said she sold her cosmetic company 6 years ago and that the company changed the formulation so now she's alergic to a product that carries her name on it! She says now she uses Sensé, a product manufactured by USANA Health Sciences, Inc. Her skin is unbelievably beautiful given her age and she claims she has never had a facelift. She certainly appears to know what shes talking about.

Nothing much else new in this book that you don't already know, but the skin care is good advice. I've been using her basic ideas for years and the results are good.

Zia offers lots of wisdom in taking care of your mind, body and face as you move into your mid-years and beyond. While Zia products are some of the best I've ever used, she offers suggestions on other products. An excellent resource!

Not to say wesley has austen's genius, but one reads her with the same sense of delight.
This is an extremely sexy book, but without the extreme explicitness of romance novels, which I always think ruins it.
Wonderful light reading.

Amazing. Very sexy and exciting but not explicit and gratuitous. We meet Flora as a young lonely girl of ten on vacation with her selfish, neglectful parents. We follow her life as she matures to a beautiful woman. Three men love her but which does she love and which one will she choose. This is one book hard to put down.

I am currently reading all of Mary Wesley's books, they are addictive. She creates excellent, sympathetic characters, sets them in interesting situations, and makes the plot move along, without resorting to caricatures or unbelievable coincidences. Plus, she knows how to write GOOD.

"Harnessing Peacocks" is a sometimes comic, sometimes slice-of-life novel about a prostitute who takes up gourmet cookery and earns money at both so she can send her child to a fancy boarding school. With great effort she keeps her personal and private lives separate. You know, of course, the dam has to break at some point or there wouldn't be a book.

Perhaps it's just my American impatience but I thought the book took too long to get off the ground. Characters' habits and daily activities were explored more than necessary and by the time the farcical elements got going, I felt relief more than enthusiasm. Still, the writing was excellent and the characters were well drawn. I can see why Wesley is a popular author in her native Great Britain.

A very heart warming story to give you hope on a cold and miserable day

"Harnessing Peacocks" is one of my all-time favorite books. In some ways, it's a typical British comedy-of-manners, but with terrific, quirky characters and a gentle, romantic plot.

Teenaged Hebe runs away from the home she shares with her grandparents when she overhears them and her bossy older sisters plotting to get her an unwanted abortion.

We see her again as her son, Silas, is growing old enough to question his background. His mother has raised him on her own, cooking for wealthy elderly clients and "tarting" (as she calls it) for several selected men, to be able to provide him with the same upbringing she had. She is smart, fiercely independent, and vulnerable (although she doesn't realize it).

One of my favorite things about this book is Wesley's wonderfully quirky and complex characters.

If you enjoy other authors such as Barbara Pym, Laurie Colwin and Jane Austen, I think you will enjoy this book.

Jumping the Queue is an unusually crafted story that begins with Matilda Poliport's attempt to end her life thwarted by timing, a non-event which sets the tone for the whole tale. Mary Wesley describes Matilda's environs with exquisite word pictures: her cottage, her neighbors, town. When matricide Hugh Warner stumbles into Matilda's life, things take an interesting turn, and they keep turning that way till the end. Jumping the Queue is an extraordinary story whose ending surprised me, and I'm hard to fool.

The marvelous Mary Wesley passed away a few weeks ago. She was 90. She did not begin publishing until she reached her 70's. She wrote witty social comedy with depth and tenderness and could spin a wicked plot. This was her first novel. I had the pleasure of discovering her when Arts & Entertainment, a TV station, broadcast "Harnessing Peacocks," which was my favorite of her novels. I binged on her work in the 90's, reading one after another. Now that she's gone, I shall reread them all.

This was my introduction to Mary Wesley. I liked this book very much and I intend to read Wesley's other books. A Dubious Legacy kept my interest, my attention and was responsible for the discreet smile I presented throughout its reading. For, indeed, the doings of three couples through several decades in mid 20th century -- the subject under scrutiny in this comedy of manners -- was portrayed with humorous detachment and unwavering perspicacity. Ms Wesley is very good at placing her characters within the axioms of each decade's mores and develops insightful cameos of each era's preoccupations.
This is a short novel, a succinct book, developed in a fast tempo, keeping all along a mystery we hope to unveil. The central characters look at first as banal as they can be, but soon we realize appearances are misleading. These six upper middle class friends in the English country side are the source of great social commentary made by an ironic and warm narrator, a painter as it were, using few incisive strokes. The result is great fun and speedy reading, a book which I would recommend to anyone wishing to be intrigued and entertained.

A Dubious Legacy is the second book written by Mary Wesley that I have read, and her writing entrances me. This book spans the period of 1944 through 1990 and focuses on the lives of the participants at what appears to be a straightforward dinner party. As the evening progresses, unexpected and unusual things occur. The book goes on to tell the story of the effect these events have on the lives of those present at this dinner party.

By slowly telling the story, uncovering information bit by bit, the writer creates a feeling of suspense. I was reluctant to put the book down, and felt slightly uneasy until I was able to finish it. I enjoyed the unusual characters the writer was able to create and felt that they were right at home in the setting of this novel. Mary Wesley also allows the reader to feel that they intimately know the characters by the end of the story. Somehow she is able to accomplish this with a minimal amount of detail.

I totally enjoyed this book and I have no qualms about recommending it to readers who enjoy the genre of comedy of manners. I am eager to read other books written by this author.

Trust it to mary to tell a romantic love story in a funny and witty ways, I started reading her books with this one and have been hooked since!