Rhododendron pie

Margery Sharp

Ann Laventie is the appealing heroine of this unusual love story. She has everyday dreams and modest ambitions; described at age twenty as ‘still much of the wistful little girl about her’. She was born into the unusually intellectual and cultured family of Laventies of Sussex, who have lived for many generations in a country house called Whitenights. This story is set in the 1920's, when the debates about highbrow and middlebrow tastes in art, culture and everyday living were of great importance. The character of Ann Laventie is set within this framework, and while she loves her family exceedingly, she is beginning to realize she is not an 'aesthete' like her father and siblings. What Ann thinks about, chooses, and ultimately loves, makes for a charming story. This is Margery Sharp's first full length novel, written with all the subtle wit and irony she became known for.