{"product_id":"bricks-and-mortar","title":"Bricks and Mortar","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"std\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"width: 319px;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/7642\/5795\/files\/fb46eabe63456ef0e8ab7ac4cb2e43eb.jpg?v=1593108255\u0026amp;width=700\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e312pp\u003cbr\u003eISBN 9781903155394\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'Helen Ashton has the power of writing about people as though she had known them all her life. One feels that one has lived next door to Martin Lovell ever since the day when he first set up house with Letty in chambers on the north side of Gray's Inn Square' wrote the \u003cem\u003eTLS\u003c\/em\u003e in 1932. Unusually, \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eBricks and Mortar \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eis about the life of a London architect from the 1890s to the early 1930s; it is, as well, about a 'very decent, simple, sweet-minded creature' who realises that his marriage has been a mistake yet makes the best of things. Because he has dignity, common sense and kindness, enjoys his working life and accepts his family as it is, he has his own special brand of heroism: the book's title refers not just to a solidly built building but to a staunch and brick-like personality. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe meet Martin when he is 24 in a wonderfully written and good-humoured first chapter, in which, Forsterianly, over dinner at their \u003cem\u003epension\u003c\/em\u003e in Rome he meets 18-year-old Letty and her mother Lady Stapleford, a widow who is 'quietly, desperately determined to marry her pretty daughter to the first eligible comer.' Martin stands no chance and soon the couple are wed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBricks and Mortar\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e differs from thousands of similar novels because Martin was 'an architect who was very much in love with his profession': the book traces his professional life over thirty-five years, and anyone with even the faintest interest in houses will love the details about Martin's life as a London architect, the houses he lives in and the changing styles of the houses he builds, as well as his occasional existential crises about whether designing people's kitchen extensions is really his life's purpose.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHelen Ashton is in some respects a typical Persephone author, being an extremely good, once very popular but now forgotten novelist who has not previously been revived because she is neither feminist enough nor romantic enough; of her kind, however, she is reliably and delightfully readable. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor more on \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBricks and Mortar\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e, have a look at the Persephone Perspective.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"std\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEndpaper\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"endpaper-caption\"\u003eThe endpapers are taken from a 1930 block-printed linen furnishing fabric, 'Welwyn Garden City', designed by Doris Gregg for Footprints Ltd.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"endpaper-caption\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePicture Caption\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"endpaper-caption\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eThe original 1932 cover for \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBricks and Mortar\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Helen Ashton","offers":[{"title":"None","offer_id":54098768298291,"sku":"xun1789694509667","price":27.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tissue\/Endpaper","offer_id":54098768331059,"sku":"yfg1789694509668","price":33.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cambridge Imprint paper","offer_id":54098768363827,"sku":"ejr1789694509669","price":32.64,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Reusable fabric napkin","offer_id":54098768396595,"sku":"skf1789694509670","price":46.23,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0989\/0578\/4627\/files\/bricks-and-mortar_1.jpg?v=1789694514","url":"https:\/\/sandstepclad.shop\/products\/bricks-and-mortar","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}