"Extraordinary and enchanting", Hilary Spurling.
"... absolutely magical", Harriet Devine.
" .... [a] terrific novel", Vintage Reads.
Those remarks - and Amanda Craig's comment - are good enough for me, and I hope they will make you want to get hold of a copy of The Fountain Overflows
"Rose observes her musical, bohemian family with a child's wisdom - sometimes with innocence and occasionally with cruelty. There is her twin Mary, whose nature chimes perfectly with her own; beautiful, obtuse Cordelia, pitied for not being musically gifted; her adored little brother Richard Quin; and her charming, unprincipled father Piers, whose streak of folly ever threatens to bring his family to financial and social ruin. It is their mother Clare, beleaguered, kind and quixotically eccentric, who emerges as the family's true strength."
"It is improbable that even the most scrupulous reader could name a more poignantly and lovingly told tale, a more beautiful piece of writing" - so said the New York Times, so let's read this story of an artistic family on the verge of financial ruin and social disgrace and see whether we agree.
As to availability, shops should stock it or be able to get it easily, libraries ought to have it, and of online sources, The Book Depository is offering it at a competitive price, and there is a Kindle version;
We'll be talking about Lady Audley's Secret on the 21st. of this month, so let's reconvene to discuss The Fountain Overflows on Saturday, 25th. February; I hope there will be a lot of interest in this one as it promises much, I think.
