Pillars of Gold

by Alice Thomas Ellis

Book Overview

The subtlety of James, the comedy of Spark, the penetrating--and the deep, unflinching--eye of Jane Austen. Kirkus Reviews This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1888173548
• ISBN13: 9781888173543
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Akadine Press
• Length: 186 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.

Customer Reviews

The lives and loves of the British "chattering classes."

The trials and domestic worries of the British "chattering classes" are the subject of this wry, droll and witty novel from Alice Thomas Ellis. I must confess, that I've never read any of Ellis before, so I was looking forward to reading her work after another reviewer recommended her. Pillars of Gold, although thin on plot, takes place in contemporary North London, where the main characters spend their time visiting each other's houses, shopping on the "high street," taking tea, going to the pub, and exchanging clever, comic and sharp barbs with each other, about life, love and the world around them. One morning at breakfast, Brian reads a paragraph in last week's local newspaper, detailing the dragging of a bloodstained body of a woman from the canal at Princes Lock. The heavily neurotic Scarlet, Brian's wife - obsessed with alternative dieting and out to please, yet hates the world - begins to think that the body may be Barbs, their socially conscious and "alternative" next door neighbour. Barbs has strangely vanished all of a sudden, leaving her makeup and handbag behind. Scarlet's, rebellious and smug daughter Camille, who sort of cares about Barb but for different reasons, would rather play truant from school and hang out at the local bar with her best friend Sam, than worry too much about Barb. Scarlet, unsure of herself, her marriage, or her relationship with her daughter, seeks friendship and solace from her smart, and erudite neighbour, Constance, a self confessed girl from working-class roots. But Constance has issues with her Turkish boyfriend Memet - she doesn't trust him and thinks he's being unfaithful. Constance distrusts the world, and is all too ready to impart her cynical observations about society to Scarlet and anyone else who will listen. As the story unfolds, the characters weave in and out of each other's lives, discussing issues of class, religion and politics, while continually trying to outsmart each other with amusing diatribes. Ellis undoubtedly has a gift for glistening and comic dialogue combined with a talent for incorporating wise, shrewd and intellectual observations on family and social class. The characters are absorbing, and the narrative is peppered with sardonic twists and unanticipated turns. There's also so much humorous word play that the reader will undeniably be left laughing out loud, especially at some of the riotous "kitchen table" exchanges between Scarlet and Constance. It is obvious that Ellis - although critical of her characters and the choices they make in life - can't help but love them. The reader will probably also grow to love these characters, as they are just so endearing, and also so very "British." Mike Leonard June 04.

Coming of Age For All Women

Alice Thomas Ellis has written a coming of age book for all women of all ages. Taking place in a working class neighborhood in England, this book is humorous, hilarious and frank at times. However, at other times I was bemused by the characters. But, at no time was I bored!Alice Thomas Ellis won a Writers Guild Award and was on the shortlist for the Booker Prize, which she richly deserves. This is the first book by Ellis that I have read, but I intend to read every one she has written!Scarlett is a middle aged woman looking for herself and not fully understanding where she has been. She is married to Brian, an up and coming salesman. She has a daughter, Camille, who is going through the terrible pangs of adolescence. Camille will find her way; she is intelligent and observant- too observant.Constance lives next door, and is Scarlett's best friend. Connie is s free spirit, a modern day hippie/gypsy. She is concerned with good works and becoming the best she can be.She is in love with a Hungarian, Memet. He is a mystery, what does he do and when does he do it? Does he play around or is he really in love with Constance? What do we really know about Memet?In this neighborhood lives an American, Barb. Except, where is she? She has gone missing- her home is empty, and no one has seen her. A middle aged woman has been dragged out of the canal by the police, could this be Barb? The neighborhood is rife with mystery. The teenagers are guessing that Barb has been murdered. The adults all talk about Barb but no one wants to go to the police- too many questions too be asked, and no one wants to know the answers. Daily discussions begin and many questions asked, some lives are changed, whose?This is a book about change and coming to face the reality of life. Do the neighbors all understand the ramifications? This is also about truth and consequences, lies and falsehoods, and finally about love; family love, sexual love and love of self. A book to be reckoned with. As good a book as you will read at anytime. prisrob

"Barbs went around asking to be murdered."

Writing the wittiest dialogue I've read in a long time, Alice Thomas Ellis pokes gentle fun at contemporary working-class society, populating her novel with adults who are pot-smoking ex-hippies, kids who cut school in order to drink and play at being more grownup than their parents, and various friends, including a gypsy who peddles hot merchandise, her unfaithful Turkish lover, and Barbs, a self-conscious and obnoxious do-gooder--who also turns out to be a missing person. Taking pot-shots at the advertising business, the press, psychiatrists, school systems, nuts-and-granola nutritionists, marriage, parent/child conflicts, and the tendency of people to avoid getting involved--Ellis crafts a hilarious tale based on the discovery in a nearby canal of a body which matches the description of the missing neighbor Barbs. No one knows who the victim is, and the police, in fact, do not know that Barbs is missing. Her neighbors have not reported her absence for fear of being wrong--"we do not want to make idiots of ourselves." As days pass and Barbs remains missing, each of the neighbors comes up with reasons for believing that her absence is temporary and that she will return. It is not until the teenage children of the main characters decide to have a dinner party in Barbs's empty house, discovering many clues in the process, that the matter of her absence gains critical importance.Revealing most of her information about character through their actions and unusually clever dialogue, Ellis presents a series of intimate dramatic scenes, usually between two characters whose conversations and reactions to each other's comments show the author's psychological astuteness--parents and children miscommunicate, married couples avoid issues, friends tell each other what they want to hear. Not a word is wasted in this very witty, very wry, and beautifully wrought tale, one of the funniest pieces of ironic writing in recent memory. Mary Whipple

Love those Brits

Middle class and lower class in today's England. Scarlet, middle-aged housewife, is slowly cracking up because every day seems alike and she sees no purpose in it. Her teenage daughter Camille decides to grow up but does not like it one bit. Husband and step father is a shadow in the background, because men do not really count. Scarlet's neighbor and very best friend is Constance, who has a Turkish boyfriend and who sells things that fall off trucks with the aid of her Gypsy family. Constance is the amateur psychiatrist, who explains the facts of life to Scarlet - either with straight forward, no nonsense talk, or else with the help of strong spirits.This is a wonderful book, taking a surgical knife to England's middle class. And it is written in a tight, concise language that is so often missing nowadays. The Brits still know how to handle the language.