Rose Tremain is an exceptional author in creating characters that are not always what they seem.
Underneath the simple exterior there is often a deep self.
The characters in Absolutely and Forever are of this ilk.
Marianne falls deeply in love with Simon, apparently a lothario, but marries Hugo, a sensible boy who she likes but does not love.
The best character is Marianne's best friend Petronella, who effectively is her conscience.
A brilliant short novel.
Thanks to the publisher for an advance reading copy for honest review.

This is the best kind of book, one that makes me read compulsively, pulling out my kindle at every opportunity, rooting for Marianne and longing for her to recognise her own worthiness and value. It’s not a long novel, but it packs a strong emotional punch.

Set in 60s England (or the “You Kay” as it’s now known, she dryly notes) Marianne tells her story. As a fifteen year old she falls in love with Simon, loving him absolutely and forever. Over the years life moves on, and although she lives in a privileged world (there’s a lot of horse riding, London department stores, and auction houses in this novel), this intense love and longing for him never subsides.

Tremain is expert at evoking the often suffocating attitudes of that time. It is easy to forget that women had to give up their jobs when they got pregnant, and the lack of agency afforded to Marianne as a young adult seems harsh by today’s standards. As a reader you can see that she is perceptive and intelligent, but she doesn’t realise this, and in fact these qualities are recognised by only a few people in her life. I found myself willing her to break free from the limitations she, and society, imposes on her life. How can we know what is right for us and where do we find the courage to be ourselves?

A wonderful book, recommended for lovers of novels set in 60s London, coming-of-age stories and books that tear at your heart.

A brilliantly written and well-observed story that anyone who lived through those times will identify with. I look forward to seeing what my wife makes of it who did a degree in Sociology (but was/is not a militant like Pet) and who later did a secretarial college course (Greggs of course) so she could go back to work as a PA in our beloved Italy.
I thought the ending was rather abrupt, but on reflection it was very fitting. By turns very sad and also occasionally very funny. Hugely enjoyable.

A short, well written and easy to read novel which is only 178 pages long. It describes teenage life in the 1950’s and 60’s in the middle classes of England. Children packed off to boarding school etc. After falling in love aged 15 Marianne then mopes through her life, pining for her lost lover. A bit of a twist at the end but hardly the “electrifying” novel as described in the blurb.

In a 200 page novel starting with first love, Tremain encompasses the gamut of our lives: love, friendship, relationships, family and death.
In some ways Marianne is difficult to connect with as her family and circles are upper class, Oxbridge types and living in a privileged bubble but their experiences and emotions cross boundaries and are common to all, which is where the reader connects and I am certain that anyone will find something to relate to in this story.
There are some really poignant passages which often come out of left field.. Marianne begins to write a story from the point of view of an Argentinian horse and it’s consistently disparaged by characters and the reader but it delivers a killer emotional metaphor at the end.
I also found the last sentence a brilliant conclusion that finishes on the mundanities of every day which we all deal with and get lost in despite everything else going on in our lives.
Brilliant stuff

I love this book - the sheer brevity of Tremain's story is amazing. She encapsulates so much in so few words/pages and this is the sign of a brilliant writer.

The novel is about Marianne, a girl growing up in the SE of England in the 1960s, who falls in love with Simon Hurst. Before long, things take a different, unexpected turn and Marianne ends up with Hugo. This is a story about self-discovery but also about love and relationships - and how things can turn out quite differently.

Tremain's prose is beautiful. Here, the reader is immersed in a very evocative time period - England in the 1960s - but also readers are taken on a journey to a later stage of Marianne's life. There are hints of humour, a la Nina Stibbe, here, but also prose which perfectly conjures up a sense of place at a particular time.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a beautiful story of love and teenage emotions. It is about all types of love - first love, friendship, parental, reciprocal and non-reciprocal love.

It's about the reality of living, knowing that the person you love more than anything in the world, doesn't feel the same way.

As a 15 year-old schoolgirl, Marianne experiences first love with Simon. The thought of him rules her existence, she just lives for him, despite the realisation that she needs to move on with her life.

A great book by Rose Tremain. I really enjoyed the way that so many variations of love were explored.

I enjoyed this story, though not as much as other books by Rose Tremain. The thing she does so well, in this as in her other books, is give you a real feel for the time the book is set and while I found the main character a little frustrating at times in her outlook and lack of ambition, she is also a real product of the time she lived in. I also loved the ending of the book which didn't follow the path I expected it too and was perhaps more pleasurable for the element of surprise it brought with it.

A brilliant description of first love - you know, the one that you still think about even though you haven't seen them for thirty years, although you may have stalked them on Facebook every now and then.
Marianne's frustration with her parent's refusal to take her love seriously was palpable and described in very petulant teenage terms!
I very much enjoyed this book - Rose Tremain writes a super tale and this is no exception.

Absolutely and Forever is a romance that follows Marianne from age 15 until her early adulthood. Marianne is a young girl when she falls in love with Simon, and this love follows her throughout life, even when Simon leaves for Paris and she marries someone else.

Marianne wants to marry. She wants to marry Simon and that is it. She doesn't want to study or do anything else really and her life revolves around her feelings for Simon. Marianne is a selfish and quite ignorant character, and this made it simultaneously entertaining but frustrating to read. She doesn't consider people's feelings at the beginning of the book- like maybe Simon doesn't like her. At times she is quite childish and this isolates her from her peers who don't like that she doesn't pay attention to her lessons.

But, it is interesting to follow Marianne as she grows up and goes through life. We witness personal moments such as pre wedding chats. I did enjoy the showing of private moments in this novel despite not enjoying the character. The ending was very sudden which was a surprise and I wasn't a fan of the book overall but it was interesting and an insight into life in the 60s.

This is short, but quite lovely, as one would expect of a writer of Tremain's stature. I read it solidly in one go - really recommend you do the same.

Rose Tremain remains one of my favorite writers who builds the most rounded and extraordinary characters on the page with her clever use of words. This short book was a relief in a sea of sometimes nonsense words, if you like her work, you'll savour it, for me it's five stars all the way.

I loved this. It was warmly written and the characters were so very real. It was ultimately sad book, but the writing was, as ever, superb.

Whilst I quite enjoyed this short novel at times I felt I was reading a book written for young adults. The emphasis on Marianne’s teenage years and her all encompassing ‘love’ for Simon had a ‘coming of age’ feel to it. And because of this I wasn’t enamoured of this book as her previous ones.

A beautiful story of love and loss. A gentle amble through the life of Marianne and her quest to find where she belongs in this world. I really enjoyed this book.

A touching look at the loyalty of a young woman, whose love is intertwined with sadness and revelations from the past. Marianne’s sardonic humour fits well with the quiet prose style.

This short novel is a treat and takes you to the 1950s/1960s and the attitudes of that period. Marianne is a an upper middle class teenager who is constantly put down by her parents. Dad is ex-military and mum wants the perfect daughter, which is why when 15 year old Marianne tells them that she is in love absolutely and forever with 18 year old Simon Hurst, they squash her and make her feel that she is a constant disappointment. We see the world through Marianne's eyes as her obsession with Simon takes her over. He is the prince who, according to his parents, is destined for greatness - his future is mapped out. Until it all goes wrong and he and Marianne have to bury their dreams. But Marianne never lets go of her obsession and she carries is with her through her life, Simon is still everything to her and she is convinced that they will marry. The author creates a very real character in Marianne - the constant put downs from her parents make her have very little belief in her self worth. Yo do feel that there is no one in her corner except her schoolfriend Petronella. You want to hug Marianne, you want to shake her, but you never dislike her. There is a naïve innocence in her words, there is humour, wit and sometimes what she says is not necessarily what she is thinking. As for the other characters, Marianne's father is so pompous but by the end, you do - well I did - actually find yourself liking him. The attitudes of Marianne's parents, their values which were out of time with the swinging sixties, are so perfectly captured as is the attitude of the class that they belong to. The language takes you back to that time - for those of us that are from that time. A gem of a novel.

A little bit of Adrian Mole in a 1950s upper middle class Berkshire girl, or maybe just encapsulating the ubiquitous teenage inkling that everyone else has everything already figured out.

“I kept wondering and wondering what their trick had been, to become the people that they were now, with such a love of themselves and of the present moment. I knew that I envied them. It looked to me as though they had never had their hearts broken, never yearned for things that were lost.  More than this, they seemed to announce that the future was entirely theirs and that nobody else would find a proper place in it.”

This is a really satisfying read, I felt like I truly got to know the main character and my heart hoped, cared and broke for her. Marianne will remain with me as a friend.
Tremain has skilfully created the character and allowed us to share her thoughts and feel her yearnings as we progress through from her teenage years to her marriage.

Marianne, being 15 and wildly enamoured with a distant teenaged Simon is affectionately driven to distraction hoping to “ascend to heaven together in the pale blue Morris Minor”

Tremain has created an endearing character and captured her honest innocence, without becoming trite and saccharine at all. Her romantic obsession does feel more of an introspection on her own self worth it would do the novel a disservice to not recognise this.

“I’d never thought for a moment that almost everything that had preoccupied me until then would be relegated to some fog-bound corner of my brain and that all the rest of it would fill up with my obsession with this one person. I’d never imagined that love could make me so totally stupid.”

The humorous elements are told with such an honest voice and interwoven so skilfully
You will laugh alongside her like a friend or sister, not quite laughing with her as there isn’t a lot of laughing when the serious business of teenage love is at hand. This is such a fine balance to strike and a refreshing perspective. Tremain doesn’t mock Marrianne or make her a figure of pity like her own parents do.

“ my coat was sheepskin […] I tried to imagine how many sheep had been sheared to make this coat“

The pace of the writing is well set; it’s only a short novel, under 200 pages so character development and descriptions are quickly and effectively established. Nothing seems to take unnecessarily long nor are events bunched up in one place, the story feels natural and flows well, this book is a perfect light lunch which will leave you peckish for more of Tremain’s work. I will definitely be picking up ‘Lily’ which has already been released.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK, vintage for this advance review copy.

I was so excited to review the latest offering from the brilliant Rose Tremain and ‘Absolutely and Forever’ did not disappoint, it was everything I had hoped for and more.

This small but mighty novella is a master class in character and world building and the writing is just sublime. The portrayal of Marianne effortlessly captures the absurdity of teenage infatuation ‘The narcissism of a person in love knows no bounds ‘.

A tale of unrequited love and so much more set amidst the harsh rigid expectations of middle class 1950/60s British society. I didn’t want this book to end.

I absolutely loved this coming of age story set in England in the 50s and 60s. Although quite a light hearted novel, it nevertheless deals with important themes such as societal expectations of women, equality, childlessness, homosexuality.
Thanks to # NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC.