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Visitors
Dorothea May's tranquility is shattered by Kitty Levinson's announcement of her granddaughter's forthcoming marriage. As the wedding approaches, the scene is set for a highly charged conflict of generations, in which the claims of the young are in stark and selfish contrast to the disabling propriety of the old. VISITORS is a vivid exploration of familial responsibilities and the expectations that perpetually threaten to overwhelm them.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
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About the author
Anita Brookner
58books612followersAnita Brookner published her first novel, A Start In Life in 1981. Her most notable novel, her fourth, Hotel du Lac won the Man Booker Prize in 1984. Her novel, The Next Big Thing was longlisted (alongside John Banville's, Shroud) in 2002 for the Man Booker Prize. She published more than 25 works of fiction, notably: Strangers (2009) shortlisted for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, Fraud (1992) and, The Rules of Engagement (2003). She was also the first female to hold a Slade Professorship of Fine Arts at Cambridge University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 105 reviews
July 16, 2019
Like almost all of Brookner’s novels I’ve read, the main theme is loneliness. We have a 70-year old widow, who has no remaining family other than a couple of older married cousins of her deceased husband. They see each other on holidays and talk by phone for an ‘obligatory 7-minute call� each Sunday. (The cousins take turns calling as if someone keeps a schedule.) Both married cousins are older than she is, so the calls tend to be about health and illnesses. Other than that the main character only sees shop keepers, a hairdresser and folks in restaurants.
She grew up lonely, spending her time alone in museums and libraries, then taking care of her dying parents and marrying very late in life.
Suddenly her one of her husband’s cousins calls saying they have a granddaughter coming from the US to get married in England. She is the daughter of an estranged son of theirs who lives on a commune in England and they have not seen him for years. Would she host the best man for a week to ten days? She reluctantly agrees.
The young people who arrive are an odd three-some. The bride is large and not very attractive. The groom is not a minister exactly, but some type of Christian counselor who hosts workshops and seminars and enjoys arguing his faith with others. The best man lives with the couple in the US and is openly gay. None of them seem grateful to the grandparents in England who have agreed to foot the expense of the wedding, a week-long honeymoon in Paris, and all the fuss and bother.
When the gay man arrives to stay in her extra bedroom we think we know where the story is going. Surely they will become friendly. She cooks breakfast for him and rents a car for him and he promises to drive her around and let her show him the London sights.
The wedding goes off reasonably well.
I like Brookner’s novels although I note that she tends to get relatively low ratings on GR. I find them an intriguing, slow, calming read. She’s not Henry James but she’s like him somewhat in her psychological focus and in her analysis of manners, mannerisms, gestures. Maybe Henry James ‘lite.�
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The author from
She grew up lonely, spending her time alone in museums and libraries, then taking care of her dying parents and marrying very late in life.
Suddenly her one of her husband’s cousins calls saying they have a granddaughter coming from the US to get married in England. She is the daughter of an estranged son of theirs who lives on a commune in England and they have not seen him for years. Would she host the best man for a week to ten days? She reluctantly agrees.
The young people who arrive are an odd three-some. The bride is large and not very attractive. The groom is not a minister exactly, but some type of Christian counselor who hosts workshops and seminars and enjoys arguing his faith with others. The best man lives with the couple in the US and is openly gay. None of them seem grateful to the grandparents in England who have agreed to foot the expense of the wedding, a week-long honeymoon in Paris, and all the fuss and bother.
When the gay man arrives to stay in her extra bedroom we think we know where the story is going. Surely they will become friendly. She cooks breakfast for him and rents a car for him and he promises to drive her around and let her show him the London sights.
The wedding goes off reasonably well.
I like Brookner’s novels although I note that she tends to get relatively low ratings on GR. I find them an intriguing, slow, calming read. She’s not Henry James but she’s like him somewhat in her psychological focus and in her analysis of manners, mannerisms, gestures. Maybe Henry James ‘lite.�
Photo of London townhouses from hattonandvernon.com
The author from
November 8, 2021
I read this because of another group discussion in Reading the 20th Century - my eighth Brookner and fourth this year was one of the most enjoyable, as always full of perceptive observation and dry humour. The central character is Dorothea May (generally referred to as Mrs May), a widow who has lived alone in her substantial London flat for many years. Her orderly lifestyle is upset when one of her husband's sisters asks her to accommodate Steve, a young friend of her granddaughter while they prepare for the granddaughter's wedding.
I won't say more about the plot, but the interactions between the generations are both entertaining and eventually quite touching. Brookner is often described as bleak, but this book is ultimately rather life affirming.
I will finish with a quote that made me laugh, as it seems very true: "Loneliness is much feared by the gregarious, she reflected, whereas to the solitary the gregarious pose a much greater threat."
I won't say more about the plot, but the interactions between the generations are both entertaining and eventually quite touching. Brookner is often described as bleak, but this book is ultimately rather life affirming.
I will finish with a quote that made me laugh, as it seems very true: "Loneliness is much feared by the gregarious, she reflected, whereas to the solitary the gregarious pose a much greater threat."
April 4, 2023
This novel provides a nuanced look at the face of loneliness from the perspective of an older person referenced to as Mrs. May by the book’s omniscient narrator but called Dorothea or Thea by others. The 70-year-old Mrs. May has been a widow for fifteen years, and her only remaining family connections consists of two sister-in-laws and their husbands. Mrs. May’s communications with these in-laws consists simply of perfunctory weekly telephone call—probably to check to see if she’s still alive.
Mrs. May self consciously considers herself well suited for her isolated existence. She does have a memory of a past married life that wasn’t so lonely, but after her husband’s death she feels that she was able to revert to her original normal lonely self.
Mrs. May seems to enjoy the disruption to her life in spite of herself. The book's narrative gives subtle hints that maybe her guest won't leave, and it causes Mrs. May to be worried (or maybe she's hoping he'll stay). As wedding planning progresses family conflicts arrises and Mrs. May's being sort of an outsider as an in-law finds herself in the unexpected role as a peacemaker and confidant.
Things finally get worked out, the wedding takes place, and Mrs. May's guest leaves. (Have you ever heard of a best man accompanying the newly weds on their honeymoon?). Mrs. May at first doesn't quite know how to come down from the emotional high of this recent social blitz. She starts making plans to change into a world traveler, but then on second thought settles down to her usual life.
Mrs. May self consciously considers herself well suited for her isolated existence. She does have a memory of a past married life that wasn’t so lonely, but after her husband’s death she feels that she was able to revert to her original normal lonely self.
Strangers, introduced to her for the first time, assumed that she had never married, thinking her self-sufficiency no more than the sum of others� indifference. That was their business; hers was to give no sign of anything out of order. This she succeeded in doing. Unbeknown to herself, she was considered slightly forbidding. She had few friends now, but that, she thought, spared her the pain of losing them.Then she receives an unexpected call from her sister-in-law. Could she temporarily provide room and board for a best man companion of the bridegroom of a granddaughter who on short notice is coming from the States to London to get married. It’s an unwanted disruption to Mrs. May’s isolation, but efforts to say no are not heard. She will have a boarder for about a week, and she’s going to manage somehow.
Mrs. May seems to enjoy the disruption to her life in spite of herself. The book's narrative gives subtle hints that maybe her guest won't leave, and it causes Mrs. May to be worried (or maybe she's hoping he'll stay). As wedding planning progresses family conflicts arrises and Mrs. May's being sort of an outsider as an in-law finds herself in the unexpected role as a peacemaker and confidant.
Things finally get worked out, the wedding takes place, and Mrs. May's guest leaves. (Have you ever heard of a best man accompanying the newly weds on their honeymoon?). Mrs. May at first doesn't quite know how to come down from the emotional high of this recent social blitz. She starts making plans to change into a world traveler, but then on second thought settles down to her usual life.
October 12, 2021
I'm all in with . (1997) is another Brookner masterclass.
(1997) is the fourth book I have read by her and is every bit as good as the others (, , and ).
How another Brookner novel about loneliness and isolation can be so captivating is a wonderful mystery. What a talent.
Thea, a woman of habit and good sense, has lived most of her life alone in London. The only intrustions come from her late husband's family. When Kitty, Thea's needy sister-in-law asks for her help, the scene is set for generational contrast and conflict which sheds light on Thea's inner life, her dreams and her memories.
Another immersive and brief novel that, yet again covers so much ground, whilst also being funny, suprising and moving
4/5
The extraordinary Anita Brookner gives us a brilliant novel about age and awakening. In Visitors, Brookner explores what happens when a woman's quiet resignation to fate is challenged by the arrogance of youth.
Dorothea May is most at ease in the company of strangers. When her late husband's relatives prevail on her to take in a young man for the week before an unexpected family wedding, Thea's carefully constructed, solitary world is thrown into disarray. As the wedding approaches, old family secrets surface and conflicts erupt between the generations, trapping an unwilling Thea in the middle. Confronted by the company of Steve Best, a carefree young wanderer, Thea's fragile facade of peaceful acceptance is pierced, forcing her to face in a new way both her past and her future.
(1997) is the fourth book I have read by her and is every bit as good as the others (, , and ).
How another Brookner novel about loneliness and isolation can be so captivating is a wonderful mystery. What a talent.
Thea, a woman of habit and good sense, has lived most of her life alone in London. The only intrustions come from her late husband's family. When Kitty, Thea's needy sister-in-law asks for her help, the scene is set for generational contrast and conflict which sheds light on Thea's inner life, her dreams and her memories.
Another immersive and brief novel that, yet again covers so much ground, whilst also being funny, suprising and moving
4/5
The extraordinary Anita Brookner gives us a brilliant novel about age and awakening. In Visitors, Brookner explores what happens when a woman's quiet resignation to fate is challenged by the arrogance of youth.
Dorothea May is most at ease in the company of strangers. When her late husband's relatives prevail on her to take in a young man for the week before an unexpected family wedding, Thea's carefully constructed, solitary world is thrown into disarray. As the wedding approaches, old family secrets surface and conflicts erupt between the generations, trapping an unwilling Thea in the middle. Confronted by the company of Steve Best, a carefree young wanderer, Thea's fragile facade of peaceful acceptance is pierced, forcing her to face in a new way both her past and her future.
October 12, 2021
This is the third Anita Brookner novel that I have read and, although I enjoyed the previous two that I have read, I found them quite depressing. Although this deals with similar themes of loneliness and isolation, I found it a little more warm and uplifting.
Dorothea May (Thea) is seventy and lives alone in London. Now widowed, she married Henry when she was thirty nine. Although she has no family of her own, she still has some contact with Henry's married cousins, Kitty and Molly. This often involves phone calls, which are made from a sense of duty, rather than warmth. However, when Kitty becomes involved in organising her granddaughter's wedding, she presses the unwilling Thea to take one of the wedding party as a guest.
Brookner was a perceptive and realistic author. This is no Hollywood movie plot, where Thea's heart is opened by the appearance of her young guest, Steve. Rather she is disturbed by his presence, but he does shake up her isolated, comfortable existence. She has to consider what ageing means, is thrown into past memories, confronts the ingratitude of youth, the gap between generations and the meaning of family. Brookner is an ideal author for reading groups, with so much to consider and think about and characters that are both sympathetic and realistic.
Dorothea May (Thea) is seventy and lives alone in London. Now widowed, she married Henry when she was thirty nine. Although she has no family of her own, she still has some contact with Henry's married cousins, Kitty and Molly. This often involves phone calls, which are made from a sense of duty, rather than warmth. However, when Kitty becomes involved in organising her granddaughter's wedding, she presses the unwilling Thea to take one of the wedding party as a guest.
Brookner was a perceptive and realistic author. This is no Hollywood movie plot, where Thea's heart is opened by the appearance of her young guest, Steve. Rather she is disturbed by his presence, but he does shake up her isolated, comfortable existence. She has to consider what ageing means, is thrown into past memories, confronts the ingratitude of youth, the gap between generations and the meaning of family. Brookner is an ideal author for reading groups, with so much to consider and think about and characters that are both sympathetic and realistic.
March 15, 2020
My first Brookner and I enjoyed the story. There's not much dialogue, more inner thoughts and musings, which took some getting used to, in that I had to focus on what the proganist Dorothea May had to say, but it worked for me. I look forward to reading more of her books.
November 3, 2021
I love Anita Brookner. Her prose is elegant, her characters vividly alive. In this novel, as in her other novels about women of a certain age, Brookner brilliantly excavates the minutiae of the inner life of quiet, staid, mature women. Women who on the surface appear perhaps lonely, but content, passionless, and always appropriate, but who have memories of past lovers, who yearn for adventure, yearn to be seen and heard and have an interest taken in them.
Brookner’s observations of England’s middle to upper class men and women, the social norms, the rules of polite society and adherence to duty have garnered comparisons to Jane Austen, but Jane Austen didn’t unearth the psyche of her characters to the degree that Brookner does.
It doesn’t matter what the novel is about, if Anita Brookner wrote it, read it. You will be richly rewarded.
Highly recommended
Brookner’s observations of England’s middle to upper class men and women, the social norms, the rules of polite society and adherence to duty have garnered comparisons to Jane Austen, but Jane Austen didn’t unearth the psyche of her characters to the degree that Brookner does.
It doesn’t matter what the novel is about, if Anita Brookner wrote it, read it. You will be richly rewarded.
Highly recommended
March 11, 2016
This is a quiet novel that creeps up and catches the reader by surprise. Not much is happening in the life of the widowed protagonist here; she's living a careful and quiet life. Yet as the book unfolds, the reader is admitted to her inner thoughts, feelings, insecurities, fears, dreams, and judgments. By the end of the book, we know this character completely. We understand her, even if we don't want to be her (and maybe even pity her, though she doesn't want pity). Brookner has done something impressive here to turn this ordinary character into an absorbing novel. I'd definitely like to read more of Brookner's work -- since she has over 20 novels, I imagine I should be able to find something of interest.
May 20, 2018
*A very mild spoiler alert!**
I have just re-read this. Seven years have passed and I wondered, as I got into it, why I gave it five stars. But as I progressed in the book and saw how the main character had grown to value relationships she formerly saw as largely negative, and how her heart grew warmer, I was moved all over again.
I have just re-read this. Seven years have passed and I wondered, as I got into it, why I gave it five stars. But as I progressed in the book and saw how the main character had grown to value relationships she formerly saw as largely negative, and how her heart grew warmer, I was moved all over again.
January 9, 2011
I enjoy Anita Brookner, despite the slow pace. I love her use of language and find myself constantly looking up new words (now that it's so easy to do so on my ipad!) I loved how the book moved through her changes in outlook and yet, finally came full circle.
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December 4, 2022Visitors, published in 1997, was the seventeenth of Anita Brookner’s roughly twenty-three novels. I think of Brookner novels like Bach’s compositions: Brookner weaves together, reworks, and reinvents familiar themes, somehow transforming them into fresh new novels. So it is with Visitors, which combines two of Brookner’s sometimes themes: a single person, willingly emotionally isolated but not necessarily lonely, engaged in an internal conflict about how much she wants to retain her solitary life and how much she wants to surrender some of it and risk developing new and possibly risk-laden relations with others; and the fear and yearning of older adults for younger adults. In Vistiors, Brookner gives us the widowed Dorothy May � AKA Mrs. May, AKA Thea � who continues visiting her husband’s cousins long after his death, but maintains her willful distance from them. Brookner also gives us three American twenty-somethings, one a granddaughter of Mrs. May’s husband’s sister. The granddaughter returns to England for her marriage, long-separated from her grandparents and estranged from her father. The granddaughter, her prospective husband, and her prospective husband’s gay best friend all strike Mrs. May and her husband’s cousins as near aliens, poorly mannered, self-obsessed, and ungrateful. But as in Brookner’s earlier and superb Latecomers, the youngsters come to be, if not understood, appreciated, treasured, and ultimately missed by Mrs. May and her husband’s cousins. A typically contemplative, emotionally charged, lovely Brookner, but not among my favorites.
January 5, 2010
Anita Brookner has a way of making you look at life i which is not always cheerful. Here we have Dorothea - 73 -lives alone (widowed for 15 years) in a London mansion flat. The cousins of her late husband telephone on a Sunday, and she has lunch in an Italian restaurant. That is her life. Until,that is, she is presuaded, to put up the best man of a small wedding party in her spare room. Steve is 22 - and his presence in her life changes Dorothea in small but meaningful ways.
This is beautifully written, Anita Brookner's world is one we recognise, although may not have lived oursleves. It is a world of gentility, mansion flats and London restaurants, noone seems really poor. Within 200 pages or so you come to understand everything about Dorothea'stime on this earth, her childhood, her late marriage, her old age. It's not always a happy picture, but it's so beautifully done, that you come to accept to melancholy feeling that always threatens to descend.
This is beautifully written, Anita Brookner's world is one we recognise, although may not have lived oursleves. It is a world of gentility, mansion flats and London restaurants, noone seems really poor. Within 200 pages or so you come to understand everything about Dorothea'stime on this earth, her childhood, her late marriage, her old age. It's not always a happy picture, but it's so beautifully done, that you come to accept to melancholy feeling that always threatens to descend.
March 17, 2008
This book is so different from any I have ever read. The book is almost entirely the main character's thoughts and judgements about what everyone around her is thinking. I kept waiting for something to happen (it never did). It was very well written in that I felt like I really knew the main character, but it was also very boring.
November 2, 2021
Much like the last Anita Brookner novel I read, Hotel du Lac, 35 years ago, this is a book of interiors, the interior of a person, a flat, a family, and very little about the exteriors: London, careers, or events. The one exception perhaps is a wedding, but we see nothing of the ceremony, the toasts or the decor and only just as much of the food and drink as our heroine can offer and carry to the ancient Bessie Millington.
And the interiors themselves are not rich. Mrs. May's flat itself is well-furnished but small, and she deprives herself of the run of most of it while her unwanted visitor shares it. Her thoughts do not stray far from a few themes: her solitary nature, her relationship with her late husband's family, the differences between the young and the old, and whether her visitor will ever leave. She ruminates on her infirmity, which she knows will only increase, the nature of family and marriage, her one adventure in sin and how she was "rescued".
The writing is wonderful. The sentences are intricate, beautifully constructed and fun to take apart.
Nothing much happens, but we see how Mrs. May, despite her outsider status, despite herself being somewhat of a "visitor" in her late husband's family and in some ways even in her marriage, plays an essential role in the lives of everyone around her. Maybe as a whole there was too much repetition, but maybe that was intentional, showing the circularity of Mrs. May's thinking, or perhaps its spiralling quality, because at the end she does end up in a subtly different place from where she started.
And the interiors themselves are not rich. Mrs. May's flat itself is well-furnished but small, and she deprives herself of the run of most of it while her unwanted visitor shares it. Her thoughts do not stray far from a few themes: her solitary nature, her relationship with her late husband's family, the differences between the young and the old, and whether her visitor will ever leave. She ruminates on her infirmity, which she knows will only increase, the nature of family and marriage, her one adventure in sin and how she was "rescued".
The writing is wonderful. The sentences are intricate, beautifully constructed and fun to take apart.
Nothing much happens, but we see how Mrs. May, despite her outsider status, despite herself being somewhat of a "visitor" in her late husband's family and in some ways even in her marriage, plays an essential role in the lives of everyone around her. Maybe as a whole there was too much repetition, but maybe that was intentional, showing the circularity of Mrs. May's thinking, or perhaps its spiralling quality, because at the end she does end up in a subtly different place from where she started.
August 19, 2024
Thea May is a thoroughly enjoyable main character, and I liked the morbidity and the enemies to friends-trope. All dialogue involving "the young people" is ludicrously contrived and unnatural. Also many redundancies that don't really make sense as such, as if Brookner couldn't be bothered to revise. A great dream sequence of an English vision of actual Heaven towards the end.
November 11, 2021
I did like this look at the life and thoughts of 70-year-old Dorothea May, a widow who enjoys her solitude. While there are somewhat dramatic events, brought on by the arrival of the titled visitors, the bulk of the book consisted of Mrs. May’s introspective thoughts and dreams.
The plot consists of how the visitors� arrival affects Dorothea’s own solitude and introspective life as she is drawn back into a more active role with her dead husband Henry’s cousins, Kitty and Molly, and their families in planning a wedding for Kitty’s long-absent granddaughter.
Brookner effectively portrays the characters of Henry’s family and the 3 guests. Unfortunately, I found them all more irritating than likeable or interesting. Also, while Brookner writes well, there were times during Dorothea’s introspections where I found by own concentration drifting away like Dorothea’s thoughts.
Overall, this was an easy, well-written read and I will likely read more Brookner. However, I did not find this book quite as engaging as her . This is a 3.5 star read that I am rounding down to 3 stars.
The plot consists of how the visitors� arrival affects Dorothea’s own solitude and introspective life as she is drawn back into a more active role with her dead husband Henry’s cousins, Kitty and Molly, and their families in planning a wedding for Kitty’s long-absent granddaughter.
Brookner effectively portrays the characters of Henry’s family and the 3 guests. Unfortunately, I found them all more irritating than likeable or interesting. Also, while Brookner writes well, there were times during Dorothea’s introspections where I found by own concentration drifting away like Dorothea’s thoughts.
Overall, this was an easy, well-written read and I will likely read more Brookner. However, I did not find this book quite as engaging as her . This is a 3.5 star read that I am rounding down to 3 stars.
May 2, 2021
I wrote this in a review of in 2013, another of Brookner's novels and it's true for this book also--
--Brookner writes a certain type of book and this is no exception. In fact, I make sure I only read 1-2 of hers a year because in remembering I tend to merge all the characters together.
This would have a great book club read because of all the discussions you could have--but it would make a lousy book club read because it goes so slowly (nothing really happens at all) and most of the characters are unlikeable. Well, not unlikable but you want to give most of them a wakeup call. Ring, ring, hello, it's your life!
So check, there's a quiet, unassuming girl and her reserved widowed mother. Check, there's a small but steady cash flow so the above don't need to work. Check, the location is in both London and Paris. Check, girl acts like a doormat. Yup, it's Brookner.--
So here Mrs. May is both the unassuming girl and widow. I should have added that all the characters love to take long walks and slosh about with tummies full of tea.
Many of Mrs. May's actions were reminiscent of how I've spent the last year with covid--dragging out activities, not doing everything in one day, filling the days somehow so I could sleep at night.
There's a quote near the end that I loved--"Those who survived and grew old were in a country without maps." That's true. Sure, there's tons of how-to books on every aspect of life (marriage, parenting, how to get into college, find a job) but except for financial planning, there's not many books on how to spend a retirement. It's only in fiction that we see what's possible.
Whoops, forgot about this one
Brookner definately writes for the tortoise market.
--Brookner writes a certain type of book and this is no exception. In fact, I make sure I only read 1-2 of hers a year because in remembering I tend to merge all the characters together.
This would have a great book club read because of all the discussions you could have--but it would make a lousy book club read because it goes so slowly (nothing really happens at all) and most of the characters are unlikeable. Well, not unlikable but you want to give most of them a wakeup call. Ring, ring, hello, it's your life!
So check, there's a quiet, unassuming girl and her reserved widowed mother. Check, there's a small but steady cash flow so the above don't need to work. Check, the location is in both London and Paris. Check, girl acts like a doormat. Yup, it's Brookner.--
So here Mrs. May is both the unassuming girl and widow. I should have added that all the characters love to take long walks and slosh about with tummies full of tea.
Many of Mrs. May's actions were reminiscent of how I've spent the last year with covid--dragging out activities, not doing everything in one day, filling the days somehow so I could sleep at night.
There's a quote near the end that I loved--"Those who survived and grew old were in a country without maps." That's true. Sure, there's tons of how-to books on every aspect of life (marriage, parenting, how to get into college, find a job) but except for financial planning, there's not many books on how to spend a retirement. It's only in fiction that we see what's possible.
Whoops, forgot about this one
Brookner definately writes for the tortoise market.
November 16, 2018
One of Brookner's best. Although it is often said that all of her novels read pretty much the same, because they all deal with lonely women who lead what most people consider pathetic lives, I don't subscribe to that view. This is the story of Dorothea, a plain woman who almost accidentally married into a wealthy north London Jewish family. Since Henry's death, Dorothea has kept in touch with his cousins, without ever feeling totally accepted or taken seriously by them. However, things are imperceptibly realigned when Dorothea plays a leading role in making a success of Kitty's grand-daughter's wedding. Alienated by Kitty's authoritarian manners, her only son Gerald disappeared from the scene long ago, and with him his daughter Ann. Out of the blue, Ann resurfaces in London because she is pregnant and her very religious American boyfriend wants to get married. Ann and David have taken up with a drifter called Steve, and in the run up to the wedding, Kitty prevails on Dorothea to take Steve under her roof. Both Dorothea and Henry's cousins are rattled by the invasion of these 3 young people who have very different values and make no allowances for their hosts. Initially the old folk assume that Ann has come back in order to get a lavish wedding out of her moneyed grand-parents, but it turns out that she despises their lifestyle and all the treats they shower on her. Things get very fraught and the wedding looks set to be fiasco but behind the scenes Dorothea manages to talk some sense into Ann while David convinces Gerald to attend, thereby giving Kitty the one thing she really wanted. In the aftermath of the event, Dorothea flirts with the idea of going on an extended holiday, but in the end chooses to attend Kitty's anniversary. Brookner delineates all the small hypocrisies of relationships between in-laws very well. She does a great job of showing how a crisis like the sudden reappearance of a grand-child affects various members of a tribe in ways not entirely foreseeable.
January 16, 2016
Novels are often described as "absorbing" and this is true of Anita Brookner's twenty four novels: they are utterly absorbing. With her characteristic richness of style, wry humour and forensic insights into the psychology and emotions of people, especially women, Visitors is a marvellous portrayal of a woman's courageous struggle to protect her solitude and independence in the face of overwhelming familial intrusion and expectations.
Dorothea May is an elderly widow living in London, in a quiet flat that she loves. After her husband, Henry, died, his cousins Kitty, Austin and Molly continue contact with her, and also their hold on her. For many years she has endured their pity and manipulative ways in reinforcing her outsider status. But the great shakeup occurs when the fussy and patronising Kitty contacts Dorothea about her granddaughter's forthcoming wedding and expects Dorothea to give the best man, Steve, a spare room in her flat for a week. When Dorothea point blank refuses, Kitty lays on the guilt: '"I thought you'd be glad to help us out. After all, what are families for?"... Mrs May knew what families were for: they were for offering endless possibilities for coercion."
But she caves in and agrees to take in Steve but is horrified at having this visitor, this young stranger inside the sanctity of her flat and intruding on her settled routines. But she also discovers that "it is sometimes good to awaken envious speculation in others."
Dorothea May is an elderly widow living in London, in a quiet flat that she loves. After her husband, Henry, died, his cousins Kitty, Austin and Molly continue contact with her, and also their hold on her. For many years she has endured their pity and manipulative ways in reinforcing her outsider status. But the great shakeup occurs when the fussy and patronising Kitty contacts Dorothea about her granddaughter's forthcoming wedding and expects Dorothea to give the best man, Steve, a spare room in her flat for a week. When Dorothea point blank refuses, Kitty lays on the guilt: '"I thought you'd be glad to help us out. After all, what are families for?"... Mrs May knew what families were for: they were for offering endless possibilities for coercion."
But she caves in and agrees to take in Steve but is horrified at having this visitor, this young stranger inside the sanctity of her flat and intruding on her settled routines. But she also discovers that "it is sometimes good to awaken envious speculation in others."
July 18, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For me it was a view on the different ages of people and of generations. Perhaps also on the various strengths and types of relationships within a family. As differing aspects struck a note with my own self it made me feel like I could be both charming and unlikeable in equal measures when this tale highlighted both the beauty and ugliness of the stages of life.
The novel was a metamorphical journey of spirit, albeit brief, that reached beyond either end of the time covered. Once again, I find myself reading a book with little plot but much, much character and indeed characters. The most frightening traits were the ones that I could see either within my own family or, I shudder, the mirror!!!
The ending for me was realistic and never felt driven to an inevitable predetermined Hollywood-esque metaphorical drive into the sunset. As such, none of what I have said here eludes to any conclusion the book may have of have not come to.
The novel was a metamorphical journey of spirit, albeit brief, that reached beyond either end of the time covered. Once again, I find myself reading a book with little plot but much, much character and indeed characters. The most frightening traits were the ones that I could see either within my own family or, I shudder, the mirror!!!
The ending for me was realistic and never felt driven to an inevitable predetermined Hollywood-esque metaphorical drive into the sunset. As such, none of what I have said here eludes to any conclusion the book may have of have not come to.
November 12, 2021
Widowed Dorothea (Thea) May is reserved and solitary, living alone in her London flat with little social interaction except for her late husband’s elderly cousins, Molly and Kitty. When Kitty’s granddaughter Ann arrives from America to marry her fiancé David, Thea is asked to host one of the guests. This leads to a series of inter generational conflicts, and brings Thea a different perspective on her life.
Anita Brookner’s novels are to be savoured for their elegant writing, perceptive observations and subtly developed characters. Visitors is full of introspection, so that the reader is immersed in Thea’s thoughts and dreams - often surprising, sometimes contradictory - and really gets to appreciate her perspective. Brookner is often bleak, and Thea’s life does often appear a lonely and restricted one, but this book is ultimately a quietly uplifting one.
Anita Brookner’s novels are to be savoured for their elegant writing, perceptive observations and subtly developed characters. Visitors is full of introspection, so that the reader is immersed in Thea’s thoughts and dreams - often surprising, sometimes contradictory - and really gets to appreciate her perspective. Brookner is often bleak, and Thea’s life does often appear a lonely and restricted one, but this book is ultimately a quietly uplifting one.
October 2, 2008
I keep hearing about Anita Brookner, and her author photo looks so familiar that I think I might have read something else she wrote. But, I digress. This novel is the interior life of an elderly, musty English widow who hasn't gone much of anywhere or done much of anything. I found Brookner's writing beautiful and original, but the characters (there are others who cross paths with Mrs. May) didn't engage me, so I checked out of the tedium around page 90. My rule of thumb is to give a book 33 pages -- the page on which the local library stamps its ownership -- to hook my interest. My standard is arbitrary, but has served me well. Owing to Brookner's repeated visits to "best-of" lists, I gave her almost three times that number of pages, but I found the going too tiresome to continue.
December 17, 2013
I read several of Anita Brookner's novels some twenty years ago and gave up on her because all of her characters are the same: lonely women who are estranged from their surroundings. I picked up Visitors at a used book sale awhile ago, and decided to give her another try. This time around I had much more appreciation for her writing. Brookner is a beautiful writer, but I still found her very difficult to get through. Her characters are still depressing, or at least depressive, not much happens in her books and the writing doesn't make up for it enough. There were some bright spots here and there, but not enough to get me to even finish the last ten pages. Its a shame, because I usually love books where not much happens, especially those written by women English writers.
April 15, 2010
Ugh. I hate to write a hideous review. Perhaps it's just the mood I'm in, but this book did not capture me.
Suffice it to say, I stuck with it for my obligatory 50 pages before you decide to move on to something else rule, and I still just didn't care.
This book is a heavy, muddled, laborious read that at times had me shouting, "What the bleep are you talking about?"
I wouldn't completely write off (pun intended) this author, but I'll have to really research reviews before I pull another one of hers off the shelf.
Suffice it to say, I stuck with it for my obligatory 50 pages before you decide to move on to something else rule, and I still just didn't care.
This book is a heavy, muddled, laborious read that at times had me shouting, "What the bleep are you talking about?"
I wouldn't completely write off (pun intended) this author, but I'll have to really research reviews before I pull another one of hers off the shelf.
August 28, 2012
Meh. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for this book, but it really didn't do anything for me. There were a few OK thoughts about aging, but other than that it was mostly just an old woman hyperanalyzing everything and everyone in her life.
March 8, 2019
Old lady is lonely....
April 15, 2018
Jacqueline Carey opens of Visitors for The New York Times with the following paragraph:
In some respects the world in which she places her characters is as alien to me as Beckett’s. As much as I love Beckett’s work there’s always something a little abstract about his characters and not just the ones in jars and bins. That you cannot say about anyone in this book. She has such an eye for detail. And a way with words. Take, for example, this sentence:
Mrs May, Dorothea, was married to Henry but has been on her own now for fifteen years. Once a week she receives a phone call from one of Henry’s cousins Kitty or Molly. She’s invited over for the occasional meal “but at the same time there [is] a tacit acceptance that she would continue her alien life at a distance.� This doesn’t bother Thea one bit. She accepts their efforts to stay in touch are “motivated by love for the absent Henry rather than for herself� and doesn’t judge them too harshly—really Henry was all they had in common—and if a few minutes enduring their efforts at extending goodwill—after all “she was still Henry’s wife”—so be it. When the calls end with a thoughtful, “What are you eating tonight?� she always dreams up something healthy and interesting rather than admitting all she’s planned to nibble on is a banana while she reads her book. Not that she can’t afford to eat well—her husband left her well taken care of—but that’s all she wants and one of the joys of living on your own is being able to indulge your fancies even if a banana couldn’t count as either an indulgence or something fancy.
The plot of the book kicks off when Thea receives a phone call from Kitty:
As it turns out Steve is no real trouble at all but his presence—indeed the presence of all three youngsters—takes Thea’s thoughts into directions she wouldn’t have considered under normal circumstances. Not that she says anything to anyone—she’s courteous and does what’s expected—but we get to listen to her inner turmoil.
Although Steve ends up with her for over a week—longer than she’d been told to expect—they mostly keep to themselves. The few exchanges they share—hard to call them conversations—shake Thea though. Not that Steve goes out of his way to make the old woman feel awkward in her own home. Most of her fears are imagined and boy does she have an active imagination:
Anita Brookner is a frightening writer. A decade ago, my friend Anne went to Paris for a soul-searching type of vacation and happened at the outset to read three Anita Brookner novels in a row. She did not get out of bed for the rest of her visit. Because of Brookner's almost antiquely elegant prose and the occasional glittering flash of her scalpel, it is easy to forget how truly bleak her vision is. Set beside it, the despair found in most modern novels feels as artificial and forgettable as an advertisement based on the already dated heroin chic.I’ve no idea, obviously, if Visitors was one of those three novels but this is the seventh book by her I’ve read and I can tell you this is by far the rawest and most insightful I’ve read yet. I’ve never given her less than four stars and three of those six books warranted five. With this seventh book I think I can rightly say that Brookner is now my favourite female author. I started—and gave up on—three books in quick succession before I picked up Visitors. It doesn’t really matter what those books were because on any other day I might’ve read them without any problem but for whatever reason I was struggling and so decided on a safe bet. And that’s how I’m coming to view Brookner, as reliable; she never puts a foot wrong.
In some respects the world in which she places her characters is as alien to me as Beckett’s. As much as I love Beckett’s work there’s always something a little abstract about his characters and not just the ones in jars and bins. That you cannot say about anyone in this book. She has such an eye for detail. And a way with words. Take, for example, this sentence:
She was to be an adjunct, but not necessarily an intimate, admitted to certain colloquies but not to others, her status as family member once more to be negotiated.This perfectly sums up Mrs May’s relationship with her in-laws. Since her husband’s death they are all the family she has left and—dutifully—they all send out the necessary invites and make the requisite phone calls. They’re all old, in their seventies, but more importantly they’re old-fashioned, dated, fast becoming out-of-date. Of course they can’t see that or if they can they make light of it. Until a trio of twenty-somethings invade their lives and force them to look at themselves in a new and not especially flattering light.
Mrs May, Dorothea, was married to Henry but has been on her own now for fifteen years. Once a week she receives a phone call from one of Henry’s cousins Kitty or Molly. She’s invited over for the occasional meal “but at the same time there [is] a tacit acceptance that she would continue her alien life at a distance.� This doesn’t bother Thea one bit. She accepts their efforts to stay in touch are “motivated by love for the absent Henry rather than for herself� and doesn’t judge them too harshly—really Henry was all they had in common—and if a few minutes enduring their efforts at extending goodwill—after all “she was still Henry’s wife”—so be it. When the calls end with a thoughtful, “What are you eating tonight?� she always dreams up something healthy and interesting rather than admitting all she’s planned to nibble on is a banana while she reads her book. Not that she can’t afford to eat well—her husband left her well taken care of—but that’s all she wants and one of the joys of living on your own is being able to indulge your fancies even if a banana couldn’t count as either an indulgence or something fancy.
The plot of the book kicks off when Thea receives a phone call from Kitty:
‘Ann is coming over from America. You remember Ann, my granddaughter, don’t you?�All well and good. The catch is Steve:
‘I remember her as a little girl, certainly.�
‘Well, she’s a big girl now, twenty-four. And she’s getting married! And she wants to get married here, in London, with us.
‘Ann and David will stay here, unless I can persuade Molly to put David up. I don’t think he’ll be any trouble.� David was dismissed, a mere accessory ‘The thing is that David’s bringing his best man with him. At least I assume it’s his best man. Ann merely said, “David’s friend.� I’ll be frank with you, Thea; we know nothing about him. We were wondering if you’d help out.�Thea tries to wriggle out of it but a single shot across her bow� ‘I thought you’d be glad to help us out,� said Kitty, her voice stiff. ‘After all, what are families for?’—and she acquiesces.
As it turns out Steve is no real trouble at all but his presence—indeed the presence of all three youngsters—takes Thea’s thoughts into directions she wouldn’t have considered under normal circumstances. Not that she says anything to anyone—she’s courteous and does what’s expected—but we get to listen to her inner turmoil.
Although Steve ends up with her for over a week—longer than she’d been told to expect—they mostly keep to themselves. The few exchanges they share—hard to call them conversations—shake Thea though. Not that Steve goes out of his way to make the old woman feel awkward in her own home. Most of her fears are imagined and boy does she have an active imagination:
Living alone, she had discovered, was a stoical enterprise but one that could be rewarding. And now, after only a few days, she was once again anxious, fearful of displeasing this stranger in her house. The date of his departure, fixed for the Wednesday of the following week, when he was supposed to fly to Paris with the newlyweds, struck her as unreal; she was half convinced that at the last moment he would refuse to go.There is something Pinteresque going on here, albeit Pinter-lite. She describes Steve as “not � immediately lovable � too stony, too empty, too defiantly solitary� and fails to see, at first at least, that’s maybe the pot calling the kettle black:
…]
Of course Steve was nothing like as menacing as the creatures she had no trouble in imagining. The similarity resided in the fact that he had assessed her circumstances, had seen that there was room for him, had seen above all that there was no argument she could convincingly muster to stop him from putting down roots in her home. There was, in fact, no way in which she could get rid of him if he had no wish to leave. Her heart beat strongly, sickeningly, as she realised this. She told herself not to be a fool, dried the dishes, and folded her teatowel with a hand that shook only slightly.
[S]he sensed that he was lonely, as lonely in his way as she was in hers, except that her loneliness was the outcome of a fiercely guarded reclusion, and all that she required to help her was a deeper sense of reverie. Young people were not given to reverie, were not particularly articulate, lacked the sort of patience that only the old could command. Seeing him moody and unoccupied made her feel sympathy for his predicament, yet she herself could provide few distractions. She pitied his straitened youth of jogging and rock music, yet on the rare occasions on which she had heard him speak he appeared to be educated, even gently bred, but determined to hide the fact. She had had to come to the conclusion that he preferred to live as he did, to have no regular employment, to drift into the company of those who might make his decisions for him. It was a sadness to her to contemplate such a life. Her own, by comparison, seemed infinitely rich.What struck me was the ending of this book. Brookner’s too classy a novelist to do anything predictable—the book is grounded in realism and believability—but Thea does do something out of character at the end. Or at least she starts to. Throughout the whole book she’s behaved impeccably, “present and absent at the same time, available,� and one can only hold it in for so long. Has she left it too late? Perhaps:
[S]he felt a measure of relief herself, together with a sharp sense of anticlimax. It was like waking after a particularly enthralling dream, to find that her course of action was not to be dictated by magical thinking but was circumscribed by mundane reality, and that instead of encountering and overcoming mythical obstacles she had merely to take her shopping basket and mingle with the other suburban ladies at the supermarket.
…]
[S]he braced herself to meet the day, took her shopping basket, and went out, greeting one or two neighbours as she walked carefully down her familiar street. Now that the world had shrunk again she forced herself to appreciate the modest nature of her surroundings, all pleasant, all subdued, all seasonal: the honeysuckle at the corner, now drooping, a few early yellow leaves on the pavement, the first of the season’s apples on display at the greengrocer’s. The Indian newsagent raised a dignified hand in greeting as she passed. Yes, it was all quite bearable.
December 26, 2022
A novel about an aging woman and her friends in England. It's an intense look at about 2 weeks before a wedding that Thea's sister-in-law is putting together for her granddaughter. Much of the book is Thea's thoughts about her own life, and getting older. Good, well-written.
June 13, 2016
I have always admired Brookner's way with words as well as her depth of characterization. And I know before I open one of her novels that most likely the main character will be an outsider or recluse, probably shy and retiring, etc. I have not read a Brookner novel in ages. This time out, I both loved and hated the whole shebang. There are many themes: aging, loneliness, the generation gap, people's personas or masks, ennui, family or lack thereof, and marriage.
I wanted Mrs. May (Dorothea, but she seems too proper for me to call her by her first name), the main character who is an elderly widow living in London, to kick up her heels a little and get with the program as far as enjoying life. Her mind is preoccupied with her somewhat failing health though she has not been to a doctor in many years. She has many doubts about whether people like or appreciate her, so I guess you would call that an inferiority complex. Thus she holds herself back from participating in much of anything.
I for one, enjoy solitude; poor Mrs. May just seems to just languish there. The family she married into treat her as a minor accessory to their more juicy lives. The action in the book that stirs things up comes in the form of a temporary lodger, a young man who takes up residence in Mrs. May's spare room. This seems to be one of the most exciting things that has happened to her in the fifteen years since her husband died. The lodger is foisted on her by her sister-in-law because of an upcoming wedding in the family.
I won't go into many more details as they are outlined elsewhere. Yes, Mrs. May does gain a bit of self worth during the brief wedding season. She helps solve a few problems beset upon the recalcitrant (pregnant) bride. By novel's end, Mrs. May is pretty much right back where she started. Okay, okay -- yes, she changes her will and finally goes to a doctor for a check-up, but decides not to go on a holiday abroad she had almost been looking forward to. And so, as other reviews have pointed out, she comes full circle back to her rather stale existence. And this is probably very true to life for many people. We are all stuck in our ruts.
The novel takes high-minded tone and is very much an interior monologue. Mrs. May has some considerable wealth and security. Yet she is so very alone. It is doubtful she has ever had much of an authentic connection to anyone, even her husband to whom she was a second (less adored) wife. She does recall her mother with some fondness. How many ways does the author paint a picture of Mrs.May's solitude? The answer: umpteen. Mrs. May has a "tendency to introspection." She feels very much a "guardian of the (Sunday) emptiness." She is so very aware of her tendency to reclusion and reverie. And so I was caught up in her helpless ennui so much so that it felt like I was falling down into a deep well. Occasionally there were shafts of sunlight. No bones were broken because this particular well seemed to have no bottom. It was a dry well. It was perpetual. Mrs. May, here's hoping you somehow woke up from the aridity of your life after I turned the very last page of your saga, but I am not going to place any wagers on much of a renaissance ahead. In any case, cheerio and fare thee well.
I wanted Mrs. May (Dorothea, but she seems too proper for me to call her by her first name), the main character who is an elderly widow living in London, to kick up her heels a little and get with the program as far as enjoying life. Her mind is preoccupied with her somewhat failing health though she has not been to a doctor in many years. She has many doubts about whether people like or appreciate her, so I guess you would call that an inferiority complex. Thus she holds herself back from participating in much of anything.
I for one, enjoy solitude; poor Mrs. May just seems to just languish there. The family she married into treat her as a minor accessory to their more juicy lives. The action in the book that stirs things up comes in the form of a temporary lodger, a young man who takes up residence in Mrs. May's spare room. This seems to be one of the most exciting things that has happened to her in the fifteen years since her husband died. The lodger is foisted on her by her sister-in-law because of an upcoming wedding in the family.
I won't go into many more details as they are outlined elsewhere. Yes, Mrs. May does gain a bit of self worth during the brief wedding season. She helps solve a few problems beset upon the recalcitrant (pregnant) bride. By novel's end, Mrs. May is pretty much right back where she started. Okay, okay -- yes, she changes her will and finally goes to a doctor for a check-up, but decides not to go on a holiday abroad she had almost been looking forward to. And so, as other reviews have pointed out, she comes full circle back to her rather stale existence. And this is probably very true to life for many people. We are all stuck in our ruts.
The novel takes high-minded tone and is very much an interior monologue. Mrs. May has some considerable wealth and security. Yet she is so very alone. It is doubtful she has ever had much of an authentic connection to anyone, even her husband to whom she was a second (less adored) wife. She does recall her mother with some fondness. How many ways does the author paint a picture of Mrs.May's solitude? The answer: umpteen. Mrs. May has a "tendency to introspection." She feels very much a "guardian of the (Sunday) emptiness." She is so very aware of her tendency to reclusion and reverie. And so I was caught up in her helpless ennui so much so that it felt like I was falling down into a deep well. Occasionally there were shafts of sunlight. No bones were broken because this particular well seemed to have no bottom. It was a dry well. It was perpetual. Mrs. May, here's hoping you somehow woke up from the aridity of your life after I turned the very last page of your saga, but I am not going to place any wagers on much of a renaissance ahead. In any case, cheerio and fare thee well.
January 28, 2019
As the New York Times said, this "may be the book Brookner has spent her life aiming toward". It is contemplative, absorbing, complex, and features a woman in her seventies (as Brookner nearly was when she wrote it). Mrs. May lives a mostly solitary existence in her lovely generous apartment in London, quite satisfied to be who she is. She lost her husband some years before and has adjusted well to obligatory visits to his relatives, as she has none of her own. For she is a proper English lady, not given to emotional outbursts or close relationships.
She is startled to receive a call from her husband's cousin Kitty, who usually only called at certain times of the week. Kitty explains that her granddaughter is coming to London from America to be wed, and she, Kitty, needs to find a place for her fiance's best friend to stay. Mrs. May, Dorothea May, immediately says no, but is ultimately persuaded to let young Steve stay for a short while.
Unaccustomed to visitors, Dorothea nevertheless knows what is expected of a host. She provides a bedroom, fully outfitted, plus breakfast, and sometimes tea later. She is not especially welcoming, and neither is Steve all that lovable. She finds that all three of the young people who came to London are remarkably devoid of charm or any sense of its value.
Over time Dorothea finds the intrusion of this guest and the related visits to Kitty and Austin's home interesting and worthy of thought. It is a change from what she expected of her future. There is no fairytale ending here, with the flatmates becoming fond of each other, as you might expect with another author. I like that about this book. Yet his presence does lead to a gradual alteration in Mrs. May's vision of the world, of her place in it.
I found the book compelling in its quiet way, possibly because I am in my seventies too, and rarely read anything that I can relate to so well. I am not Mrs. May but I find her utterly believable. Many times she refers to herself as "boring" or "uninteresting" but she most certainly isn't. Her intelligence shines through, along with her quiet compassion, in a way I can only hope can be said of me after I'm gone.
She is startled to receive a call from her husband's cousin Kitty, who usually only called at certain times of the week. Kitty explains that her granddaughter is coming to London from America to be wed, and she, Kitty, needs to find a place for her fiance's best friend to stay. Mrs. May, Dorothea May, immediately says no, but is ultimately persuaded to let young Steve stay for a short while.
Unaccustomed to visitors, Dorothea nevertheless knows what is expected of a host. She provides a bedroom, fully outfitted, plus breakfast, and sometimes tea later. She is not especially welcoming, and neither is Steve all that lovable. She finds that all three of the young people who came to London are remarkably devoid of charm or any sense of its value.
Over time Dorothea finds the intrusion of this guest and the related visits to Kitty and Austin's home interesting and worthy of thought. It is a change from what she expected of her future. There is no fairytale ending here, with the flatmates becoming fond of each other, as you might expect with another author. I like that about this book. Yet his presence does lead to a gradual alteration in Mrs. May's vision of the world, of her place in it.
I found the book compelling in its quiet way, possibly because I am in my seventies too, and rarely read anything that I can relate to so well. I am not Mrs. May but I find her utterly believable. Many times she refers to herself as "boring" or "uninteresting" but she most certainly isn't. Her intelligence shines through, along with her quiet compassion, in a way I can only hope can be said of me after I'm gone.
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