{"product_id":"present-and-the-past-book-ivy-compton-burnett-9780140033472","title":"The Present and the Past","description":"Ivy Compton-Burnett is one of the most original, artful, and elegant writers of our century. -- Hilary Mantel \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen Cassius Clare and his first wife divorced, he insisted upon retaining custody of their two sons; he then remarried and fathered three more children. Now the first Mrs. Clare has returned after nine years' absence, begging to be allowed to visit the children. Cassius takes a malicious pleasure in granting her request, certain that she and the second Mrs. Clare will provide him with an amusing sideshow. Instead, the two women strike up a warm friendship that leaves him out in the cold -- and contemplating an attention-getting suicide attempt.\u003cbr\u003eCompton-Burnett was known as a writer's writer: Joyce Carol Oates called her work Aeschylus and Sophocles funnily reinvented by Oscar Wilde; John Waters described her books as dark, hilarious, evil little novels; and V. S. Pritchett, in 1955, noted she was the most original novelist now writing in English. Discover for yourself why Compton-Burnett is treasured by such a wide range of authors. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePrecise, poised, studied, epigrammatic artistry. -- \u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAnyone who picks up a Compton-Burnett finds it very hard not to put it down. -- Ivy Compton-Burnett \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA rich story, told with far deeper insight and a bolder, more sure-footed appreciation of subtleties, than I think any of Compton-Burnet's contemporaries could achieve. -- \u003ci\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/i\u003e (U.K.)","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49637904515345,"sku":"GOR003493803","price":3.9,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49748898251025,"sku":"GOR003533728","price":3.9,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50018886353169,"sku":"GOR003317559","price":13.82,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0140033475.jpg?v=1751290274","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/present-and-the-past-book-ivy-compton-burnett-9780140033472","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}