Taylor is very adept at describing people she seems to have an innate ability to convey the sense of a character in just a few sentences. Over the course of the first few days, she is able to pinpoint the long-term residents, and a picture of each one soon emerges. Nevertheless, Mrs Palfrey knows that she must soldier on, and having made it through her first night, she decides to make the best of her new life. They were waiting patiently for the celery soup, hands folded in laps and eyes dreamy. At first, Mrs Palfrey wonders if she has made a terrible mistake in moving there, a feeling only reinforced by her initial impressions at dinner:Īt other tables sat a few other elderly ladies looking, to Mr Palfrey, as if they had been sitting there for years. While the Claremont is reasonably clean, it is somewhat lacking in atmosphere. All are no longer able to manage on their own.
On her arrival at the Claremont, Mrs Palfrey joins a small group of elderly women and one lone man who have also moved to the hotel out of necessity. In need of somewhere to live, Mrs Palfrey moves into the Claremont Hotel, a respectable establishment on the Cromwell Road, South Kensington, where she is likely to remain until a move to a nursing home or hospital can no longer be avoided.
When the time comes to compile my 2015 list, I shall have to find a place for Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont as it’s a brilliant novel, heart-rending, touching and so sharply observed – full of insights on the idiosyncrasies of life.įirst published in 1971, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont features a recently widowed elderly lady, Laura Palfrey. Last year, I read so many good books that I struggled to find space for them all on my end-of-year round-up.
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