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Salley Vickers

Autor(a) de Miss Garnet's Angel

22+ Works 3,956 Membros 140 Críticas 18 Favorited

About the Author

Obras por Salley Vickers

Miss Garnet's Angel (2000) 1,221 exemplares
The Other Side of You (2006) 503 exemplares
Instances of the Number 3 (2001) 440 exemplares
Mr Golightly's Holiday (2003) 400 exemplares
The Cleaner of Chartres (2012) 335 exemplares
The Librarian (2018) 301 exemplares
Dancing Backwards (2009) 182 exemplares
Cousins (1703) 77 exemplares
Aphrodite's Hat (2010) 77 exemplares
Grandmothers (2019) 68 exemplares
The Gardener (2021) 56 exemplares
The Boy Who Could See Death (2015) 32 exemplares
Vacation (2012) 7 exemplares
Kings and Queens (2003) 6 exemplares

Associated Works

The Enchanted April (1922) — Introdução, algumas edições2,781 exemplares
Less Than Angels (1955) — Introdução, algumas edições841 exemplares
The Touchstone (1900) — Prefácio, algumas edições312 exemplares
Reader, I Married Him: Stories Inspired by Jane Eyre (2016) — Contribuidor — 297 exemplares
First Light: A celebration of Alan Garner (2016) — Contribuidor — 29 exemplares
The Best British Short Stories 2011 (2011) — Contribuidor — 27 exemplares
Why Willows Weep: Contemporary Tales from the Woods (2011) — Contribuidor — 22 exemplares
A Day in the Life (2003) — Contribuidor — 14 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Data de nascimento
1948
Sexo
female
Nacionalidade
UK
Local de nascimento
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK
Locais de residência
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK
London, England, UK
Educação
University of Cambridge
Ocupações
professor
psychoanalyst
novelist
Relações
Delaney, Frank (husband|divorced)
Kingfisher, Rupert (son)
Organizações
Saint Deiniol's Library, Hawarden
Agente
Gillon Aitken (Aitken Alexander Associates Ltd.)

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Salley Vickers grew up as the child of parents in the British Communist Party. Her father was a trade union leader and her mother a social worker. She won a state scholarship to St Paul’s Girl’s School and went on to read English at Newnham College Cambridge. She has worked as a cleaner, a dancer, an artist’s model, a teacher of children with special needs, a university teacher of literature and a psychoanalyst. She now writes full time and lectures widely on many subjects, particularly the connections between, art, literature, psychology and religion. Her principal interests are opera, bird watching, dancing and poetry, to which her father introduced her at an early age. One of his favourite poets, W.B.Yeats was responsible for her name Salley, (the Irish for 'willow') which comes from Yeats’s poem set to music by Benjamin Britten 'Down by the salley gardens'. She has two adult sons, and two grandchildren. She is a member of PEN and the RSPB.

Membros

Críticas

444 / 26 - Μια "γεροντοκόρη" μετά το θάνατο της φίλης της , αποφασίζει να αλλάξει τη ζωή της παρατώντας το σπίτι και τη πατρίδα της . Πηγαίνει για έξι μήνες στη Βενετία . Το περιβάλλον και οι άνθρωποι που εκεί γνωρίζει , την κάνουν να αλλάξει και ανοιχτεί σα χαρακτήρας , να γίνει πιο προσιτή και ανθρώπινη . Η αλλαγή της είναι σταδιακή , αλλά ουσιαστική . Ποτέ δεν είναι αργά να πραγματοποιήσεις τα όνειρα σου , ακόμη και στη δύση της ζωής σου. Αξίζει να το διαβάσετε .… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Bella_Baxter | 31 outras críticas | Sep 17, 2023 |
In many ways this seems a straightforward story but Salley Vickers takes the reader to unexpected places as the history of Agnes is slowly revealed. The touch is light and brilliant throughout the novel. Agnes, the cleaner at Chartres Cathedral, wears bright coloured clothing and is helpful and kind. The narrative flits between Agnes' younger days and as an adult. She was found as an abandoned baby, raised by nuns and moved to a psychiatric unit under a gentle doctor after being raped and giving birth to a son, who was given for adoption by the nuns. Not surprisingly she had a breakdown. After 20 years this past begins to catch up with Agnes but her kindness earned her allies. Salley Vicjers tells the story packing in plenty of details and with a sideline of gossip. There are religious themes, identity and forgiveness and family. Agnes' happiest times are with her 'father' the man who found her and she tells Father Paul in Chartres that she thinks of him as her mother. This all ties in nicely with a cathedral dedicated to the mother of Jesus. Agnes' story is hidden deeply innate her and the reader has to persevere to get all the answers, making this quite a page turner.… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
CarolKub | 29 outras críticas | May 12, 2023 |
The Cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres is, as a Unesco description of the cathedral holds, “an essential landmark in the history of medieval architecture. The outstanding stained-glass ensemble, monumental statuary of the 12th and 13th centuries and the painted decorations miraculously preserved from the ravages of humankind and time, make Chartres one of the most admirable and the best-preserved examples of Gothic art.”

Lucky for readers, we get to hear about it in great detail, but rather than reading a dry tourist book about it, this book uses the cathedral as background for the story of Agnes Morel, a cathedral cleaner. The details of her life are told using a mix of current scenes and flashbacks, as well as employing a variety of points of view from the central characters.

Agnes was an orphan, raised by strict and often punitive nuns. She was not taught to read, but was taught to clean, at which she excels. As a child and young girl, she was lacked confidence and was mistreated, leading to some horrific abusive situations. But her quiet manner and industriousness help her earn a living as an adult.

Working at the cathedral, a place which she loves, she meets a number of characters who come to play a role in her life, including:

Abbe Paul, the current dean of the Cathedral who offers Agnes the cleaning job
Abbe Bernard, an elderly canon who has lost faith but is terrified of Satan and confides in Agnes
Philippe Nevers and his sister Brigitte, for whom Agnes used to babysit
Robert Clement, an artist for who Agnes occasionally models
Alain Fleury, one of the cathedral restorers
Professor Jones, who relies on Agnes to organize his papers and photos
Jean Dupere who found Agnes in a basket
Sister, then Mother, Veronique from the convent in which Agnes was raised
Denis Deman, a psychiatrist who treated Agnes when she was younger
Madame Louise Beck, a busybody who resents Agnes (and everyone else, for that matter)

In addition to fascinating information about the cathedral, we also are exposed to a variety of religious views from the characters. Abbe Paul in particular is realistic in his assessment of the Church and its teachings, and the fear of Satan it inspired in believers. Abbe Paul held that “the only true Satan was the idea of Satan.” Regarding Abbe Bernard’s supposed lack of faith he told Agnes, “It seems to me he believed too much. Wasn’t it Satan he was afraid of? The Church has much to answer for, Agnes. Not least in the fright it can implant in a child’s mind.” (Alain had a more sardonic response to the situation, telling Agnes: “He didn’t believe in God but he still believed in Satan. That says plenty about the Catholic faith.”)

Some mysteries about the lives of the characters are revealed in layers as the plot unwinds, with an Afterword suggesting what happened to them later on in life.

Evaluation: Vickers has excellent insight into the psychological drivings of her characters (she apparently is a former psychoanalyst), which gives the story depth lacking in many novels. I also loved the extensive background on Chartres, and how it was cleverly presented in such an interesting way. And last but not least, Agnes’s story is well worth reading.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
nbmars | 29 outras críticas | Feb 26, 2023 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
22
Also by
8
Membros
3,956
Popularidade
#6,387
Avaliação
3.8
Críticas
140
ISBN
182
Línguas
9
Marcado como favorito
18

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