Look at Me

The Backlisted podcast has steered some gems my way when it comes to books, so the numerous mentions of Anita Brookner intrigued me, and I picked up Look At Me as a first go at this author.

Firstly let me say that the writing is immaculate, nothing wrong there at all. Brookner could certainly write. But for a short novel I found this a bit of a struggle. All of the characters are horrible in one way or another. The protagonist, librarian Frances Hinton, is a weak doormat of a woman. Nick and Alix Fraser, whose orbit she falls into are shallow and selfish. James, the possible love interest, is capricious and as selfish as the Frasers.

I found it a claustrophobic novel. Not for me, sorry. Three stars for the quality of the writing.