A Vision of Loveliness

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I like that it doesn't try and sugar coat the truth - it lets the audience reach those conclusions on their own. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears, no underlining or highlighting of text, and no writing in the margins. A Vision Of Loveliness is the fourth episode in The Read - a series of creative performance readings of iconic British novels. Jane James and her sister were taken in by their aunt Doreen when they were orphaned during World War II. She seemed to slip into prostitution too readily though and the end was very abrupt like Levene had run out of ideas.

Women, it seems, cannot allow even the smallest uncalculating kindness: they are envious and selfish, loathing and loathsome. This book was very good at setting the 1960's scene, but I'm afraid it never really grabbed me as much as it should have done. The story is framed through the lens of a young gal (not yet twenty) who is desparate to improve herself, the circles she moves in and indeed her wardrobe. a crudely concreted patch with a hole left for a dusty hydrangea which was now wearing its winter wardrobe of dead brown blooms.The characters were not very likeable, that said they were quite absorbing and so it was relatively easy to keep reading.

That said, she is rather un-formed, but I would take that to be intentional on the part of the author. Bafta-nominated actor Liv Hill (Three Girls, Jellyfish, The Great, The Serpent Queen) performs A Vision of Loveliness from the novel by Louise Levene, a darkly comic work that reveals the seedy underbelly of London in the 1960s, rich with period detail. Best of all, I had an upbringing of faith with caring teachers and youth leaders who built on the goodness of my own family. At one (fascinatingly evoked) Great Portland Street evening-gown supplier, a screen separates the lily-scented showroom from a slum-like models’ dressing space: shades of the swing doors of George Orwell’s Paris restaurant days in Down and Out in Paris and London. A Vision of Loveliness takes place in 1960’s London and follows a social climbing Jane James as she gets her first foot hole into the life she so desperately wants through Suzie, a young girl about time whom she looks strikingly similar to.I am not quite sure what this novel was meant to be: a light comedy, drama or commentary on some pretty unpleasant characters. Rule bound society of aspiration and social climbing filled with wannabes,'used to bes' and 'got there's. Having very much enjoyed this author’s book ‘Ghastly Business’ I decided to try ‘A Vision of Loveliness’.

Crab apple blossoms in the spring, magnolias, crepe myrtle, her special roses, Grampa’s tulip tree, and even succulent flowers.By most standards, our small population (600,000 for the whole state) might mislead one to assume opportunities are limited here. I enjoyed my reread of this book, it’s dark comedic narrative is almost satirical at times – and who doesn’t love that?

A chance encounter with a handbag leads Jane 'Janey' James through her journey to become one of society's upper class. Everything is a bit more sordid than Jane would have expected, but she loves living with Suzy and being wined and dined by rich men. I see in her, an octogenarian of waning years, with profound wisdom, gratitude born of faith, and simplicity so worthy of embracing – giving deeper meaning to Gramma’s vision of loveliness.It begins like a humourous, if at times grim and snobbery bound, snapshot of a previous era in Britain’s history (the late 1950s/early 1960s to be precise) that is all kitchen sink-esque non-glamour and pre consumer choice/disposable incomes; condemned gas geysers, every meal tipped out of a can, twitching curtains and conformity, dead-end jobs and maybe one good suit or outfit to wear if you’re lucky. Read the (slightly misleading/possibly more morally hopeful than the tale itself) background information/blurb from the book here. But where The Cuckoo Boy is a savage indictment of hypocrisy and forced social convention, Deloume Road is a more delicate meditation on the cyclical nature of history, and the strength of communities. Fast-paced, lighthearted, sharp and fun, this book, seemingly based on the Profumo Affair of 1963, looks behind the scenes at how to become a 1960's WAG.