unearths some literary gems.
[This delightful excerpt is the very beginning of this novel and, what's more, its whimsical spirit is rather uncharacteristic of the author, who runs more to dry and unfanciful wit. So it was an unexpected treat for me upon opening the book (after which the author returned to her normal behavior).]
***
I looked out of the window and exclaimed, "Par exemple!"
It is not that I am in the habit of bursting into French. My knowledge of the language got stuck at school level. But years ago I saw that outstanding film, Carnet de Bal, and in it a mayor, who is just about to marry his cook, looks out of the window and sees a very glamorous love of his youth crossing the street towards his house and he cries out, "Par exemple!" It had seemed to me an adequate thing to say in the circumstances. So it was what I said when I saw my erstwhile husband, Felix Freer, wandering up the garden path towards the front door of the house where I was staying.
