The Beginning of Spring

Penelope Fitzgerald

Editions

Review

I defy all but the most obtuse misanthropes not to enjoy this wonderful novel.

Frank Reid runs a print-works in Moscow. He is beginning to think he should get out of Russia, his true homeland, when his wife runs out on him for no discernable reason, leaving him to cope with three children, his household, his business, his eccentric Tolstoyan accountant, Selwyn, and the Russians.

Penelope Fitzgerald’s prose is extraordinary: every word carries its due weight, every piece of punctuation; her rhythms wring meanings from sentences that the words alone do not seem to have. She is stringently precise and economic, and her teasing irony has something in common with Jane Austen. It is an effortless book to read - you would engage with it on the most crowded underground train - but this is a result of superbly crafted prose, not triviality: for Fitzgerald is always sharp, wise and stimulating. This short book has rich rewards. - review by Johnny de Falbe