How It All Began: A Novel

Penelope Lively has given us a novel that illustrates how one misdeed can affect many people. She does so, of course, in her own indomitable style.The author tells us that the plot is inspired by The Chaos Theory:'Chaos theory studies the behavior of dynamical systems that are highly sensitive to initial conditions, an effect which is popularly referred to as the butterfly effect. Small differences in initial conditions (such as those due to rounding errors in numerical computation) yield widely diverging outcomes for chaotic systems, rendering long-term prediction impossible in general.' WikipediaCharlotte, a woman of indeterminate age, but probably in her seventies, is mugged. She is thrown to the ground, breaking her hip, and her money is taken. That one incident has an affect on at least seven more people. While recuperating, Charlotte goes to live with her daughter, Rose, and Rose's husband, Gerry. Charlotte finds it difficult to be dependent on others, Rose works as a personal secretary to an elderly Lord, an independent scholar, Lord Henry Peters. He suffers from a fading memory, but his ego has him believing that his words command everyone's attention. Henry's niece, Marion, a bit self centered, is an interior designer. Her work has slowed to almost no work. She has also taken up with a married man, Jeremy. Jeremy is a purveyor of other people's junk, and a man who wants it all. His wife, Stella, is a nervous wreck, and she takes a multitude of medications. They have two daughters, and Stella has a sister, Gill, who would drive anyone to drink. Stella reads a text message one day that changes the course of her life. Back to Charlotte, she is a teacher to immigrants who have difficulty reading English. While she is housebound, she invites one of her students, Anton, who is in his forties, and an accountant, to Rose's home for his tutoring. While he is receiving Charlotte's assistance, he meets Rose and they strike up a friendship. All of these people and several they meet by happenstance have become affected by Charlotte's mugging. We learn a little about them and how their actions affect others. Many questions linger on as time passes, and even though I could guess how their lives might change, the journey was delicious.This is one of Penelope Lively's best novels, and I have enjoyed all twenty-two of them. She has something to teach us all about our behaviors, and how we lead our lives. We have been at the beginning many times with Penelope Lively. But, this time, she tells us "These stories do not end, but spin away from one another, each on its own course." Does everyone live happily after ever? No, does anyone? Each individual leads the life they were meant to live, she believes. Sometimes we are happy, and sometimes we are not. Life goes on, after all.Highly Recommended. prisrob 01-06-12 Moon Tiger Family Album: A Novel

Many readers will find 84-year-old Penelope Lively's How It All Began her best novel so far, primarily because the characters and their issues sound so familiar to those of us approaching (or having reached) senior citizenhood. With characters who comment insightfully and often ironically about their lives while dealing with their latest crises, the novel also features graceful prose and sparkling dialogue which give this novel a thematic heft which is rare in current fiction. At the heart of the novel is the observation that one event can provoke ripples that permanently affect the lives of many people not directly related to that event at all.The novel opens with the impressionistic description of the mugging of Charlotte Rainsford, age seventy-eight, and her recuperation from a broken hip at the home of her daughter and son-in-law. Her daughter Rose's need to stay home with Charlotte as she begins her recovery leads to the arrival of Marion Clark, a divorced career woman, at the home of her uncle, historian Lord Henry Peters. Marion will fill in for Rose, temporarily, as his assistant. Marion, however, is having an affair with Jeremy Dalton, a married man, and when, in the first ten pages, Jeremy's wife Stella discovers a revealing text message from Marion on his phone, all hell breaks loose, drawing in other characters. The disabled Charlotte's decision to continue to teach reading to immigrants one day a week, leads to the arrival of an immigrant from Kosovo, who comes to Rose's house for tutoring, marking another series of changes and complications, while Sir Henry's decision to write a TV series begins yet another set of ripples.Throughout the novel, Lively has a great deal of literary fun, putting on a brilliant display of the prose styles required by her characters. Sir Henry's language and writing are stuffy, pretentious, and pompous, for example. By contrast the limited grammatical skills of an immigrant are balanced by insightful and honest comments about life and learning in England. Rose's speech is realistic and unimaginative, while Jeremy's wife Stella's exaggerated sense of her own misery gives her speech a hysterical quality. The author's own style is witty, clever, and never seems to take itself seriously, but it is never casual and never takes itself for granted, often resembling a musical composition in its motifs. Changes in the characters' lives are reflected in changes of tempo and rhythm in the prose. Ultimately, all the thematic motifs come together successfully but never really "conclude," continuing to ripple outward in time.As Charlotte puts herself into the mind of Anton and the other younger characters, she also sees how much she has changed in the decades since she was their age. "You are on the edge of things now, clinging on to life's outer rim," she tells herself. "You have this comet trail of your own lived life, sparks from which arrive in the head all the time, whether you want them or not." As she thinks of who she is and how she got there, she notes that "The past is our ultimate privacy; we pile it up, year by year, decade by decade...without it you would not be yourself." Delightful in its personal stories and ironic complications, How It All Began will leave thoughtful readers awestruck by Penelope Lively's insightful commentary on the aging process and on the random nature of events which can change our lives. Mary Whipple

I loved this book , I read it whilst away on holiday , it was sweet and gentle , perfect for holiday readingPlease take a moment to push the helpful button and make my time typing up and reviewing worthwhile 🥰

have read several of Penelope Lively's novels over the years and have always found them enjoyable. She captures every day life and the nuances of relationships in a way which the reader can relate to their own life. She has light touch and there is always humour lurking in the background. This story shows how trivial everyday actions can have ramifications which no one can foresee or plan for.In this novel, Charlotte is mugged and breaks her hip in the resultant fall. For some weeks she needs to stay with her daughter, Rose and son-in-law Gerry until she can fend for herself again. This event sends out ripples into the pools of other people's lives and changes them, sometimes irrevocably. Rose is unable to accompany her employer, Henry on a trip to Manchester and his niece Marion accompanies him instead. She sends a text message to her lover to say she won't be able to meet him and this is read by her lover's wife precipitating a crisis in their marriage.I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining and well written novel. I liked the characters in the main. Charlotte dealt with her infirmity with admirable stoicism and Rose made her welcome in her home. Anton - the English language student is a marvellous creation with his delight in being able to read children's stories. If you are looking for a novel about real people living real lives affected and changed by the lives of others around them then this may be the book for you.

The title refers to the incident at the beginning of the novel, when 77 year old Charlotte Rainsford is felled in the street by a mugger and breaks her hip. This accident triggers off the chain of events in the rest of the book. Charlotte has been afflicted for some years by the aches and pains of advancing years, but has up till now always kept her independence. Now she has for the time being to live with her daughter Rose and her stolid son-in-law. She loves Rose dearly, but is unhappy to lose her independence and to intrude on the life of Rose and her husband. She is a lovable person and reflects insightfully on the process of getting old, and one fancies that her thoughts are those of Penelope Lively herself, who is much the same age. I found them the wisest and most engaging part of the book.The other old person in the book is far from insightful. He is the crusty 77 year old Lord Henry Peters, who was once a distinguished historian of 18th century England, a Regius Professor, had sat on Royal Commissions and been advisor to a Prime Minister. Rose works for him as his personal assistant. He still represents the now out-of-date Namierite approach to 18th century history (though he is aware, in one of Penelope Lively's delightful phrases, that "the 18th century has moved on, leaving him behind.") He is out of date in many other ways - his manner, the way he speaks and dresses - and he really does not understand the world in which he now lives. While giving a lecture, he suddenly and humiliatingly forgets names. He feels he must find another way to keep his name before the public, and he hits on the idea that he would condescend to present a television programme on the 18th century, not in the busy-busy way that young telly-dons now do it, but rather à la Kenneth Clark, unaware that that approach is now also dated. It's surprising how far, through a contact, he got, and we are given an idea of how tedious the actual making a television programme can be. And then Henry is taken for a ride, quite a pleasurable ride for him - and he is so unworldly that he never notices.I found these two old folk the most interesting characters in the book. The people in the next generation down - a banker, an interior decorator, an antique dealer - go through the usual experiences of affaires, marriage problems, and financial worries. (Lively is bang up-to-date with the current recession.) Well, perhaps no quite so usual: it is rare that divorce proceedings can make for such entertaining reading. The husband in question is quite a character - very well drawn.Unusual, too, is Anton, a middle-aged economic migrant from Eastern Europe, who was an accountant in his own country, but in England has to work as a labourer on a building site until he has learnt to read English. Charlotte, who had been an English teacher and had been running an adult literacy class, now has one-to-one sessions with Anton in Rose's home and talks to him about the literature (again probably speaking for Penelope Lively). Her daughter Rose also helps him with his English and in other ways. The developments which follow are somewhat predictable, but still charmingly described.I found the coda very satisfying.Penelope Lively is a marvellous writer. Her clear prose slips down like a cool glass of champagne. She moves deftly from character to character in this well-plotted story. Her learning, about literature, history, and much else besides, is worn lightly. Above all, she is witty, wise and compassionate.

I recently got a new kindle so am transferring books from my library and forgotten that I had read this before until I was a a couple of pages in. even though I rembered the story , I enjoyed reading it again but only up to a point. Lively is a wonderful writer and ' Moon Tiger' is a book I rate as one of the most enjoyable I have read but this one seemed to be far less subtle and overdid the 'chaos theory' angle far too much at the expense of real plot or character development - it irritated me on re-reading in a way which I don't remember first time round. but none of the characters with the possible exception of Anton and Charlotte were painted with real depth or felt truly convincing - the rest were more like actors on the veritable stageso overall felt this was a bit of an unsubtle book by a woman whis is usually excellent at nuance and understatement

Having read this enjoyable story I recommended it to the Book Club I attend at our local Library in Carterton. For some members it lacked a certain excitment but most appreciated the gentle characterisation of the people in it. I was pleased that it got an over all average of 7 out of 10 from the group. I myself thought many people were portrayed so well especially the elderly woman herself who was very keen to return to her home and independence. The scholarly gentleman with all his foibles plus his pomposity was quite amusing and I'm sure we have all met someone like that in our lives! The migrant worker was to be admired too as he worked so hard, as many do in real life, to improve his standard of living and use the skills he had acquired. I expect we could all contribute to How it All Began in our own lives but Penelope Lively does it so well.