{"product_id":"expiation","title":"Expiation","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"width: 500px;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/7642\/5795\/files\/499px-William_Orpen_-_Night__no._2__-_Google_Art_Project.jpg?v=1593113360\u0026amp;width=700\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePREFACE BY VALERIE GROVE\u003cbr\u003e384pp\u003cbr\u003eISBN \u003cspan itemprop=\"isbn\"\u003e9781910263235\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a first for us: a novel which has been entirely overlooked and yet is by a well-known writer. Most of Elizabeth von Arnim’s novels are in print with other publishers, yet \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eExpiation\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e has been ignored. Why?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWell, the title (a synonym for atonement) is not very catchy. The theme is faintly shocking, or was in 1929, since the book is about adultery: a 'happily married' woman has, it transpires, for years been meeting her lover once a week. (This is not a plot spoiler as the reader learns this early on.) And, although nowadays we read the novel as a satire, at the time the characters and their milieu may have seemed rather tame. After all, the Botts are the backbone of 'Titford': 'That important south London suburb appreciated the Botts, so financially sound, so continuously increasing in prosperity...They subscribed, presided, spoke, opened.' (This last sentence, on p. 2 of the novel, was what deliciously and instantly convinced us that this was a book for us.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA satire of middle-class prudery and closed-minded cruelty, what was mostly ignored in the years after\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e Expiation\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e’s first publication was how laugh-out-loud hilarious it is, so funny that we genuinely believe it to be much better than the more well-known books by ‘Elizabeth’ (the name she wrote under). It is also extraordinarily atmospheric and perceptive about the English: in some respects it is Forsterian (the greatest compliment we can pay). It too would make a wonderful play or film. Finally, the effects of Milly's behaviour are forensically explored and scrutinised, yet, in the end and upliftingly, the power of simple human kindness wins through.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd what did her contemporaries think? The greatest praise came from her nephew, the intelligent and civilised Sydney Waterlow (E M Forster’s friend). He told her: ‘Well, in my opinion \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eExpiation\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e is quite the top of your form. There is that in it which I admire most, and which I miss in all other writers practically now – power, clean and economical. There is increasing tension and excitement – and what certainty of touch.’  But the reviewers were equally enthusiastic. So in the \u003cem\u003eEvening News\u003c\/em\u003e J B Priestley admired ‘the easy writing… Every scene in this story seems to arrive almost casually, and yet not a word or a gesture is wasted. There may not be such fun in the life she shows us, but it is fun watching her show it.’ \u003cem\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e called it ‘a very clever book, written in Elizabeth’s own delightful style, full of delicate irony, and with many capitally done scenes.’ \u003cem\u003eCountry Life\u003c\/em\u003e observed: ‘Shocking words can alone describe Milly’s conduct, and yet what a sweet, generous, loving little soul the sinner has remained. The truth is that Elizabeth has achieved a most difficult thing, she has left the sin ugly and a little sordid, but made the sinner lovable.’ Finally, the feminist weekly \u003cem\u003eTime and Tide\u003c\/em\u003e thought that Elizabeth had tapped into ‘the whole of life – certainly all fiction’ which is made up of only ‘two things: love and consequences.’ In particular, \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eExpiation\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is ‘a delightful, instructive study in the consequences of that kind of love... called sin.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEndpaper\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"endpaper-caption\"\u003eA 1924-5 silk and rayon used on a day dress, fabric in a private collection. W\u003cspan\u003ee imagine this is exactly the kind of day dress Millie in \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eExpiation\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e would have worn.\u003c\/span\u003e\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\"\u003eWilliam Orpen, 'Night', 1907.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Elizabeth von Arnim","offers":[{"title":"None","offer_id":54098793169203,"sku":"laz1789694781267","price":29.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Tissue\/Endpaper","offer_id":54098793201971,"sku":"mag1789694781268","price":30.24,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Cambridge Imprint paper","offer_id":54098793234739,"sku":"ult1789694781269","price":34.68,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Reusable fabric napkin","offer_id":54098793267507,"sku":"kty1789694781270","price":50.92,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0989\/0578\/4627\/files\/expiation_1.jpg?v=1789694799","url":"https:\/\/sandstepclad.shop\/products\/expiation","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}