Book of the Month – March 2006

A Legacy (©1956), by Sybille Bedford.

I’m a little late with the March book of the month, which is entirely unnecessary since I realized early on that this book was the highlight of my March reading. In fact, it’s the highlight of my 2006 reading.

I talked about the book in my post of 2 March. Here’s the quote from the cover that I used then:

“The Kaiser’s Germany is the setting of this, Sybille Bedford’s first and best-known novel, in which three families – one from solid, upholstered Jewish Berlin, the others from the somnolent, agrarian Catholic south – become comically, tragically, irrevocably intertwined. ‘Each family,’ writes the author, ‘stood confident of being able to go on with what was theirs, while in fact they were playthings, often victims, of the now united Germany and what was brewing therein.’”

And quotes from admiring readers:

“One of the very best novels I have ever read.” – Nancy Mitford

“A book of entirely delicious quality.” – Evelyn Waugh

I recommend it unreservedly.