“The Pumpkin Eater”

 

Disclaimer: I read this book as part of a reading challenge to read a book to film adaptation. Made into a movie in 1964, this one caught my eye. However, after I finished it, I found it wasn’t on the list…

“Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater, had a wife and couldn’t keep her.

Put her in a pumpkin shell, and there he kept her very well.”

“Always there’s a voice that says it’s not true, people are good, kind, reasonable, loving, all this is just a dream…” (Loc 2921)

Essentially a narrative. One voice, that of Mrs. Armitage. Dialogue, slowly moves the storyline. Set in England. Too many children. The Tower. Postpartum depression. Sexuality. Challenges women’s role in society. 

The trailer for the movie looks a lot more exciting than the book, which I found was a bit boring.