Absolutely and Forever

Marianne is an only child from a privileged background. When she meets Simon Hurst at a party she falls in love, but an unexpected failure derails all her hopes of a future with him, although her love endures. First person narration gives intensity and complexity to Marianne's thoughts and feelings, poignantly exposing her lack of self-worth as she repeatedly disappoints the expectations of her parents. However, others see her differently: feisty, classless Petronella who shares her love for horses, and pragmatic Hugo, the son of family friends with whom she bonds on a shared summer holiday, care about her and provide emotional support, offering the chance to live a more fulfilling life....
So thoughtfully are the characters developed that the reader feels genuine empathy for them and cares about what happens to them, in the way that Marianne's two most faithful friends care about her. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be recommending it to my book group.

Absolutely and forever by Rose Tremain
Thank you Netgalley for a ARC for an unbiased review.

This novella I found is what I adore about Rose Tremain's writing. The way a few words can be so powerful that you will be reading it with emotions that rattle through you.

We begin with Marianne and her boyfriend, Simon. Although from a good middleclass background, there is still a gulf in class and to a lesser degree, age between them.
Marianne is naive, and for a lot of her life, her naivety stays through to her adulthood and shapes decisions she makes.
Simon plans to go to University and Marianne to remain his girlfriend evaporate, when his life unravels because of failed exams. This leads him going to Paris, with Marianne left heartbroken.
How she navigates her life, as a result of this heartbreak but also the conflicting relationship she has with her parents, are the core of what this story is about, as it shapes her both as a child and as an adult.

We have tragedy and Marianne facing her life choices as she gets older, that Rose Tremain pulls together in a moving way.

As with other novels by Rose Tremain, her writing pulled me right into the story, and left me thinking about long after I'd finished reading.
This might be a novella, but it brings with it the impact longer stories can give.

5/5 stars 🌟 🌟🌟🌟🌟 for yet another thought provoking, intensely moving and absorbing story from Rose Tremain.

This subtle and short novel has the power and depth of a story twice as long. Rose Tremain captures and crystallises the emotions and suppressions within the life of Marianne Clifford and the people around her ( middle class England in the late 1950s into the 1960s). The story follows Marianne from the age of 15 when she falls in love with Simon Hurst and embarks on a brief but intense relationship which controls and defines her over the forthcoming years. When Simon moves to Paris after failing his university exams, Marianne is left to endure the “torture” of teenage love and rejection and the wrath of her parents as she struggles to enter the world of “acceptability “As her life moves forward, she is still trapped in the thoughts of what might have been .. The world around Marianne changes as the sixties progresses - guided by her friend Petronella - she is aware of the freedom and liberations that are evolving but somehow she falters.Personal tragedies and changes in circumstance move Marianne forward but the power of the past is never far from her mind…
Moving, tragic in so many ways and yet the final sense of freedom permeates after the book is complete - another masterclass in quality literature

‘Absolutely and Forever’ is a wonderfully written exploration of rejection and family trauma. Rose Tremain’s central character, Marianne, falls deeply in love with beautiful sixth former, Simon, when she is only fifteen. The reader is encouraged to accept her strength of feeling, unlike her parents, but it is not until much later in the novel that we come to appreciate why she is desperate to commit herself to him at such a young age. When the handsome prince leaves for adventures in Paris, the abandoned princess grows ever more disconsolate. The secretarial college education she is told to pursue after failing in school (despite being astute, incisive and witty) does not excite her; nor do her fleeting sexual encounters in London’s swinging sixties.
Tremain’s portrayal of Marianne (I can’t help but think of Leonard Cohen’s 1967 iconic ballad) is superbly nuanced and tender. Here is a girl brought up to be defined by her value as a wife and mother who is so much more – isn’t everyone? However, because of her family’s circumstances, her own poor choices and her inability to take responsibility for her own happiness, she is approaching her thirties as an emotionally stunted, unskilled housewife. She must face the truth in order to set herself free.
This may, at first, appear to be a ‘slight’ novel. It is no such thing. Another wholly involving, incredibly moving, and thought-provoking story from the incredibly talented Rose Tremain.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK, Vintage, for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

A wonderful book written with such warmth and experience! Rose is a wonderful writer and her books have always been a joy ro read! This one made me question, observe and clarify some of my experiences in life! Would recommend

What an enchanting little book this is; watching a young girl going through adolescence with nothing more than a need to love and be loved in return. The story evoked memories of teenage years, being love struck and all the goes wit it. Marianne is the charming and somewhat naive teenager but possesses the ability to carry on through her young life searching for distractions to combat her love pangs for a boy that although true at the time, had fallen in love with another. Complex characters, episodes of amusement but underlying is the real world where what we want is not what we get. Not my usual gentle, but all the same a joy to read.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers Random House for this ARC e-copy.

An absolute masterclass; heart-rending, funny, unputdownable. Only wish the story had followed Marianne's life story further.

Outstanding! Rose Tremain has once again delivered an undoubted modern classic. Such a wonderfully crafted, emotionally infused storyline absolutely littered with spot on historic detail. Loved it!

Rose Tremain has written a poignant set piece about growing up in the 1960’s and ‘70’s. A tale of a young love affecting not just the main character’s life. Very evocative and beautifully written. It’s a short book which punches above its weight. Tremain rarely puts a word out of place. Five stars.

At the age of fifteen, Marianne Clifford tells her mother Lal that she is in love with Simon Hurst. As is her wont Lal chucks cold water on the notion, her colonel father would bark loudly and deride the idea and yet Marianne knows it’s absolutely and forever. Simon is very good looking and has his future all mapped out, he’s destined for Oxford and success until his gilded future is blown well and truly off course. Both Marianne and Simon are forced to bury their dreams but can Marianne ever move on from her obsessive infatuation?

This is a beautifully written, outstanding character study which I don’t want to end I’m so absorbed in Marianne’s life. With a few deft strokes characters spring to life and you can visualise them with ease. You view everything through Marianne’s eyes and her imagination is vivid, fertile and what comes out of her mouth is not necessarily what is in her head! She’s very intriguing though you veer from wanting to shake her and tell her to embrace the life she has to the fullest, to feeling sorry for her as she’s frequently “put down” and has much to bear including tragedy. At other times you hoot with laughter at her wit and good humour - the dialogue is sublime. Rose Tremain takes us on an emotional journey with a woman who is little understood by those around her with the exception of her friend Petronella from her school days.

The late 50’s and the 60’s are so well captured in the attitudes especially of class, in the language as well as events of the day. This is a savour every word read, another triumph in my opinion for this hugely talented author whose books I have eagerly devoured over the years. It’s not long at around 200 pages but it is a masterclass in how to construct a character driven novel whether you end up liking Marianne or not. I even come round to liking gruff old Colonel Clifford who is most certainly a product of his time! This is a book to treasure.

I have no hesitation in highly recommending this novel and it’s one I’ll reread to see what clever nuances I miss first time around.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Random House UK, Vintage for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

Marianne Clifford is 15 years old, and in love with an older boy, 18 year old Simon Hurst. From a simple teenage infatuation, Rose Tremain spins a deeply tragic, yet beautiful novel. At less than 200 pages, this is still a novel entirely full of life, it is a very fine character study, and to me felt like the kind of novel nobody was writing any more. I'm glad to see they still are.

Admittedly ones mileage with this work will depend upon how they feel about Marianne; there are times you just want to shake her - and how her parents sometimes try - and times you just want to hold her. She ingratiates herself with the reader and she infuriates at times too - this sounds like a criticism, but it is not. It simply a testament to the skill of Tremain that she draws such a rounded, human figure on the page.

I read this one slowly, taking in the details - and there are great period details here - and because I didn't want it to end. I'd have happily spent another 200 pages with Marianne. A fine novel.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

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 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.

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.

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.