
Good Intentions
Agnes Desarthe(Author)
Flamingo (Publisher)
Published on 4. November 2002
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-0-00-710095-8 (ISBN)
Description
a sly, wry novel about how hard it is to do good
Sonia is finally settling down. With her husband Julian, she buys a flat in an apartment block in an up-and-coming quarter of the city. And she is pregnant with her first child. Family life begins and it feels good.
Yet her new apartment, it is soon obvious, is not the haven she had hoped. And Sonia's beliefs in a decent, peaceful world, her disgust over racism, over poverty, soon make life very difficult for her as she allows herself to be drawn into a vicious and deeply unpleasant war between the odious apartment caretakers and a sad, lost widower who reaches out to her for help. When the threats and bullying slide beyond her control, Sonia is forced to realise that the cruelty of the world cannot simply be covered up with good intentions.
With sly wit and a misleadingly light touch, Agnes Desarthe has created an unsettling picture of the world through an apartment building and shown how, with the best will in the world, it can sometimes be the hardest thing of all to tell the good guys from the bad guys.
Sonia is finally settling down. With her husband Julian, she buys a flat in an apartment block in an up-and-coming quarter of the city. And she is pregnant with her first child. Family life begins and it feels good.
Yet her new apartment, it is soon obvious, is not the haven she had hoped. And Sonia's beliefs in a decent, peaceful world, her disgust over racism, over poverty, soon make life very difficult for her as she allows herself to be drawn into a vicious and deeply unpleasant war between the odious apartment caretakers and a sad, lost widower who reaches out to her for help. When the threats and bullying slide beyond her control, Sonia is forced to realise that the cruelty of the world cannot simply be covered up with good intentions.
With sly wit and a misleadingly light touch, Agnes Desarthe has created an unsettling picture of the world through an apartment building and shown how, with the best will in the world, it can sometimes be the hardest thing of all to tell the good guys from the bad guys.
Reviews / Votes
'Desarthe's fourth novel is as sly and as subtle and as engrossing as her most recent, "Five Photos of My Wife". But it does more than entertain and provoke, it speaks volumes about attitudes both private and public...intelligent, honest and unsettling.' Eileen Battersby, The Irish Times'Desarthe deftly and mercilesly uses Sonia's ordinary desires and concerns to pave an elegant road to hell.' Alice Ferrebe, Scotland on Sunday
'Desarthe has a style...which is consistently beautiful.' Alan Gorham, Aberdeen Press & Journal
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight
100 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-00-710095-8 (9780007100958)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
agnes desarthe is a prize-winning, best-selling and much-loved author of fiction for children and adults in her native France. Her work is translated into all the major European languages. Good Intentions is her second novel for adults to be published in English.