Quartet - Paperback

by Richmal Crompton (Author)

The quartet at the heart of this delightful novel are the four Gainsborough siblings: beautiful but vain Lorna, ultra-sensitive Adrian, nature-loving Laurence and thoughtful, strange little Jenifer.

We join them in 1900 - four happy children at the heart of a loving family, idolizing their strikingly beautiful mother, shrinking from their emotionally damaged Aunt Lena and ill-tempered governess, Miss Marchant. As their world widens on the journey to adulthood - through the advent of the motor car, the horrors of the First World, the trials and tribulations of unrequited love and unfulfilled dreams - they must fight to keep that happiness. But with Lorna compelled to make everyone love her, Adrian's artistic genius crippled by over-sensitivity to criticism, and Laurence so intent on success in business that he forgets to really live, will Jenifer's clear-sighted pragmatism be enough to save them?

A beautiful exploration of love and family, Quartet has a vivid cast of characters worthy of Elizabeth Gaskell and paints a wonderful, affectionate portrait of childhood to rival Crompton's Just William.

Author Biography

Richmal Crompton was born in Lancashire in 1890. The first story about William Brown appeared in home magazine in 1919, and the first collection of William stories was published in book form three years later. In all, thirty-eight William books were published, the last one in 1970, after Richmal Crompton's death