The Cost of Living

A witty and characterful novel about the aftermath of a party thrown by singletons Marianne, a freelance typist in her mid-thirties and twenty-six year old Alexandra, a freelance portrait painter, who live in the same apartment building and have decided it''s time to meet some men . . .
''You''re always so cynical. It doesn''t do. It makes men feel inferior.''''Quite a few of them are . . .''
Idealistic Alexandra is throwing a party to meet a more glamorous crowd. Marianne, more sardonic, worries it''ll be the usual sort.
The party is in Alexandra''s attic flat. Marianne will contribute a few bottles of red optimistically labelled Bordeaux. Can it be judged a success? There''s Donald the bus conductor with high-brow dreams, nervous bespectacled Bernhardt and Marius the ghostwriter. Not to mention a brace of Peters. It''s left to sexy, young Pisa and riotous, middle-aged Mummy (neither invited) to steal the show.
Yet, after the party both Marianne and Alexandra find themselves caught in unexpected - sometimes far from romantic - relationships. Meeting people, it turns out, has the most peculiar consequences.
Is that really the cost of living?
Praise for Kathleen Farrell: ''Genuine wit, an acute feminine intelligence and a natural distinction of style'' Spectator
''A distinctive voice, and she provided her readers with subtle pleasures'' Guardian<>

Über den Autor / die Autorin

Kathleen Farrell

Produktdetails

• Autoren: Kathleen Farrell, Farrell Kathleen
• Verlag: Penguin Books Uk
• Sprache: Englisch
• Produktform: Taschenbuch
• Erscheint: 19.03.2026
• EAN: 9781405988766
• ISBN: 978-1-4059-8876-6
• Seiten: 400
• Abmessung: 129 mm x 198 mm x 35 mm
• Serie: The Mermaid Collection
• Themen: Belletristik > Erzählende Literatur; Belletristik > Erzählende Literatur > Gegenwartsliteratur (ab 1945); Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), c 1950 to c 1959, Relating to LGBTQ+ people, FICTION / LGBTQ+ / General, Classic fiction: general and literary, Relating to LGBTQIA+ people, feminism; fashion; feminist; gender; historical romance