Publisher Description

ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE BRITISH WRITERS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY'With brilliant dialogue and intense passages of elation and despair, The Weather in the Streets takes you on the rollercoaster of their relationship' ESTHER FREUD, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'Lehmann legitimised a type of writing that took on deep personal themes' ENGLISH PEN'The first writer to filter her stories through a woman's feelings & perceptions' ANITA BROOKNERTaking up where Invitation to the Waltz left off, The Weather in the Streets shows us Olivia Curtis ten years older, a failed marriage behind her, thinner, sadder, and apparently not much wiser. A chance encounter on a train with a man who enchanted her as a teenager leads to a forbidden love affair and a new world of secret meetings, brief phone calls and snatched liaisons in anonymous hotel rooms.Years ahead of its time when first published, this subtle and powerful novel shocked even the most stalwart Lehmann fans with its searing honesty and passionate portrayal of clandestine love.Books included in the VMC 40th anniversary series include: Frost in May by Antonia White; The Collected Stories of Grace Paley; Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault; The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter; The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann; Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith; The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; Heartburn by Nora Ephron; The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy; Memento Mori by Muriel Spark; A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor; and Faces in the Water by Janet Frame.

Flap

'First published in 1936, this was years ahead of its time in its description of a young woman's affair with a married man. Lehmann takes you on her journey - the waiting, the bright moments of hope - without ever allowing you to lose sympathy for any of the characters. Passionate and brutally honest in its portrayal of how love can overwhelm your life' Esther Freud, Guardian

Author Biography

Rosamond Lehmann (1901-1990) was born on the day of Queen Victoria's funeral, in Buckinghamshire, England, the second of four children. In 1927, a few years after graduating from the University of Cambridge, she published her first novel, Dusty Answer, to critical acclaim and instantaneous celebrity. Lehmann continued to write and publish between 1930 and 1976, penning works including The Weather in the Streets, The Ballad and the Source, and the short memoir The Swan in the Evening. Lehmann was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1982 and remains one of the most distinguished novelists of the twentieth century.

Review

Lehmann is unbeatable on social nuance, both among the London bohemian set and Rollo's more conventional upper-class milieu. No one could be more attractive or caddish than Lehmann's Rollo, the married man who entrances our heroine. The ultimate tragic love storyShe is immensely readable, acute, passionate, funny and original - Elizabeth Jane HowardThe first writer to filter her stories through a woman's feelings & perceptions - Anita Brookner'A truly great book. It is beautifully written, shrewdly observed and deftly crafted, but the novel's real concern is what it means for a woman to live an authentic life'The Weather in the Streets astounded women and men with its searing depiction of what it's like to fall in love . . . With brilliant dialogue and intense passages of elation and despair, The Weather in the Streets takes you on the rollercoaster of their relationship - Sunday Telegraph

Long Description

'A truly great book. It is beautifully written, shrewdly observed and deftly crafted, but the novel's real concern is what it means for a woman to live an authentic life' Elizabeth Day A chance encounter with the man who enchanted her as a teenager leads Olivia Curtis into to a forbidden love affair. He is now married, and Olivia's life changes to one of secret meetings, brief phone calls and snatched liaisons in anonymous hotel rooms.Years ahead of its time when first published in 1936, this subtle and powerful novel shocked it readers with its searing honesty and passionate portrayal of clandestine love.* Books included in the VMC 40th anniversary series include: Frost in May by Antonia White; The Collected Stories of Grace Paley ; Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault; The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter; The Weather in the Streets by Rosamond Lehmann; Deep Water by Patricia Highsmith; The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; Heartburn by Nora Ephron; The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy; Memento Mori by Muriel Spark; A View of the Harbour by Elizabeth Taylor; and Faces in the Water by Janet Frame

Review Quote

Lehmann is unbeatable on social nuance, both among the London bohemian set and Rollo's more conventional upper-class milieu. No one could be more attractive or caddish than Lehmann's Rollo, the married man who entrances our heroine. The ultimate tragic love storyShe is immensely readable, acute, passionate, funny and original - Elizabeth Jane HowardThe first writer to filter her stories through a woman's feelings & perceptions - Anita Brookner'A truly great book. It is beautifully written, shrewdly observed and deftly crafted, but the novel's real concern is what it means for a woman to live an authentic life'The Weather in the Streets astounded women and men with its searing depiction of what it's like to fall in love . . . With brilliant dialogue and intense passages of elation and despair, The Weather in the Streets takes you on the rollercoaster of their relationship - Sunday Telegraph

Promotional "Headline"

A novel of searing honesty and a passionate portrayal of forbidden love. Published as part of a beautifully designed series to mark the 40th anniversary of the Virago Modern Classics.

Details