Briefly, A Delicious Life
Nell Stevens’ first novel is told in the voice of a young woman, Blanca, who has spent centuries haunting a monastery in Mallorca. After years of playing tricks on monks she is fascinated to see, in the year 1838, the monastery become home to a new family—especially the beautiful George, a woman writer dressed as a man. The writer is George Sand, and the man with her is the composer Frédéric Chopin. Blanca is instantly smitten and determined to know more.
The ghost of Blanca offers a gripping narrative as she is able to spend time with each character and catch them unawares, but she is also a wonderful voice: witty, empathetic, and sharp. Despite her years, she remains in many ways a fourteen-year-old. She bounces around the monastery, trying to possess these fascinating people, understand them, share their memories and feel what they feel. Chopin’s health is failing, and as a group they are struggling financially and creatively. The children are bored, the cook is cheating them, and they are shocked to find a damp and blustery winter approaching them.
This is a beautiful, compelling novel from a talented writer. It details the impact on creativity of adversity, whether in the form of poor health, lack of money, or the moralizing of others. It also explores George Sand’s struggles with identity and the consequences of living outside the norm, in an unforgiving time.
