Briefly, A Delicious Life

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Blanca is enchanted the moment she sees George, and the magical novel unfolds as a story of deeply felt, unrequited longing—a teenage ghost pining for a woman who can’t see her and doesn’t know she exists. As George and Chopin, who wear their unconventionality, in George’s case, literally on their sleeves, find themselves in deepening trouble with the provincial, 19th-century villagers, Blanca watches helplessly and reflects on the circumstances of her own death (which involved an ill-advised love affair with a monk-in-training). I don't hesitate to mark 'Briefly, a Delicious Life' as a five-star read. It will be something I'll reread, and have as a fixture in the STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS section of the library. I found myself floored by Nell Stevens' mastery with language, by her deep understanding of the human spirit, by the astonishing freshness of this historical novel. Briefly, A Delicious Life is a shining work of art and Nell Stevens is an original, whose touch is as deft as it is masterful." I howled and howled, and the daughter looked up, eyes wide, suddenly afraid. She seemed at last to sense the danger she was in, to understand that the thing she was growing beneath her skin might one day burst out of her so violently and bloodily that she or it or something might die. Stevens has published two memoirs. Bleaker House (2017) is about a period living on Bleaker Island in the South Atlantic. [3] [4] Mrs Gaskell and Me (2018) draws on her own life and that of the English novelist Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865). [5] Her first novel Briefly, a Delicious Life was published in 2022. [6] She was shortlisted for the 2018 BBC National Short Story Award, [7] and has written for publications including The New York Times, Vogue, The Paris Review, The New York Review of Books, The Guardian and Granta. [8]

George often finds the demands of motherhood to be at odds with her writing career and ambitions. How do you think this affected her and her children? Discuss the difference between her relationships with Maurice and Solange and how those relationships change over the course of the novel. The reason this turned out to be a three-star read for me is that, as interesting as this set-up is, I simply didn't come to care for any of the characters well enough to feel invested in their experiences. It spoke to my mind, but not to my heart. If you enjoy novels that push readers to think, you may enjoy this one. If you prefer novels that let you join with the characters within them, you're apt to be disappointed.

Nell Stevens

This book was captivating to put it simply, there was something so grounded and relatable unlike anything I’ve read before even though it is a story centered around a ghost. It was also the smartest use of alternating point of views I have read. It’s perceived by most as a romance book, which it is, but that doesn’t encapsulate enough that this story is about love- love and loss and grief and yearning and all that makes us human. Everyone is so amazingly complex and nuanced because no one, especially not Blanca, is a reliable narrator. You get to beautifully learn and fall in love with these characters while Blanca does as well. You get their history as well as hers, you yearn with Blanca while she yearns, and you learn to understand these deeply flawed human beings through Blanca’s eyes but also their own and each other’s. sees George, and the magical novel unfolds as a story of deeply felt, unrequited longing&#8212ateenage ghost Though Blanca is attracted to George partly because of the way she dresses, she is still appalled when George goes into the village in a suit. How do the villagers react to the way George presents herself, as opposed to her friends in Paris? First, the positives, and I really only have one: the writing. The writing in Briefly, A Delicious Life is pretty good. It evokes the novel's setting--Mallorca--well, with some nice occasional descriptive flourishes during the more key scenes (particularly the ones involving Chopin's music). The writing was never something I had an issue with. No, what I had an issue with was pretty much everything else.

Stevens, Nell (2022). Briefly, a delicious life. London. ISBN 978-1529083422. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link) As things grow more difficult in Mallorca, George becomes exhausted. She wonders, “What am I to make of life?” reminding Blanca of her own struggle to rationalize her existence after death. How does each character make sense of these existential questions? In my eyes, the perfect historical fiction must have a sense of time & place. This book did not have that 😅It almost read contemporary. I found myself often debating about the time period in which this book was set. A haunting, dazzling tale of all the good stuff: love, sex, music, literature, death, and what happens after. Nell Stevens is a beautiful writer.”our MC, Blanca, is a ghost who I could listen to for hours and days. I thought she was a really good narrator for this story, and it added a queer, sultry element that made this book. she also had her own heartbreaking and saddening story, adding to the overall somber nature of the novel. Read George Sand’s memoir A Winter in Majorca, which recounts the details of her trip with Chopin and her two children. How does she describe Mallorca? What do you make of Stevens’s adaptation of Sand’s experiences? pining for a woman who can&#8217tsee her and doesn&#8217tknow she exists. As George and Chopin, who

As a fictional biography, Briefly, A Delicious Life failed to add more depth to the central 'characters'. Instead, they felt emotionally unavailable. We do get George's pov, yet she feels detached. The authorial voice did not feel unique to either perspective. It bleeds together, indistinguishable & monotonous. If you're not carefully reading, you might actually get confused as to whose pov you are reading from. A gorgeous, wildly seductive novel, shimmering with intelligence, humor and joy. I adored this book."I went into this book almost completely blind and I’m so glad I did! it’s a beautifully romantic historical fiction, filled with music, love, and humility. the book focuses on gender roles quite a lot, which was really interesting to read about, as the book is set in 1800’s Paris and Mallorca. George, one of our central characters, rejects marriage and typical women’s fashion, adopting trousers and suits for most of the book. This novel follows a cast of historical characters as seen through the eyes of Blanca, a ghost who is haunting the Valldemossa town in the Mallorcan countryside. Simultaneously, we watch the stories of George Sand Frederic Chopin and Blanca unfold in a poetic prose that conveys an ever present sense of intimacy. This is a book more about sensations and feelings rather than a central conflict therefore it might be not for everyone's taste, but in my opinion this is a beautiful piece of literature nonetheless. I found Blanca's narration to be very intriguing. She not only acts as a watcher like, Death does in The Book Thief, but she also has this ability to directly interact and somewhat influence what is going on in the narrative. Moreover, she is able to read some thoughts of the characters as well as witness their pasts. This is especially true of her approach to George who she is enamoured by. I also found it interesting how intimate Blanca gets with all the characters whether it is laying in bed with them as she listens to their internal monologue for how personally she gets invested in their struggles. I love when you can get to know a character through their style of narration and that is definitely true of how Blanca is written. George Sand, her two children, and her lover Frederic Chopin arrive in the village, Blanca is still there: a spirited,