Anita Brookner | Introduction

Let me introduce you to one of my favourite writers, Anita Brookner.

Anita Brookner was an English novelist and art historian, born into a Polish-Jewish family in North London. She was appointed Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge in 1967, becoming the first woman to hold this position. In 1984, she won the Man Booker Prize (then the Booker-McConnell Prize) for her novel Hotel du Lac, which was beautifully adapted into a 1986 TV movie starring Anna Massey.

Brookner spent most of the 1950s living in Paris while completing her doctoral studies at the École du Louvre on a French government scholarship. She never married and cared for her parents as they aged. In one interview, she famously called herself “the loneliest woman in London.”

Anita began writing relatively late in life. Her first book, A Start in Life, was published in 1981 when she was 53. She went on to write a total of twenty-seven novels, and I have given myself the task of reading them all.

Loneliness, solitude, the position of single women and men in society as they grow older, and complex, multi-layered family relationships—including those between adult children and their elderly parents—are recurring themes in Brookner’s novels.

Anita was a meticulous observer of human nature, and this is reflected in her writing. All her novels are detailed studies of character rather than plot-driven narratives. The ordinariness of Brookner’s protagonists is another hallmark of her work—these are not heroes, but everyday people trying to make the best of their existence. She often presents a nuanced view of the mundanity of human life and the expectations imposed by family and society.

Brookner’s style is beautiful, elegant, and precise. She is careful with her words; every sentence, every punctuation mark has meaning, often multiple layers of meaning.

If you love beautiful, multi-layered, and gentle prose filled with reflections on the ordinary aspects of life, I highly recommend reading a few books by Anita Brookner. Her writing brings a sense of solace, peacefulness, and the comforting reminder that you are not alone in navigating the ordinariness of daily existence.

A Start in Life

“Dr. Weiss, at forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.”

This is perhaps the most compelling opening sentence of any book I have ever read. A Start in Life follows 40-year-old Ruth Weiss in London, Oxford, and Paris. She looks back on her life to understand why she feels so unhappy with her existence, examining her childhood, her relationships with her parents and friends, and her career. The novel explores how external circumstances shape one’s existence and whether an individual can change their life. Even when given opportunities to do so, Ruth struggles, showing that life is nuanced and multifaceted.

For me, this is a life-affirming novel, depicting a mature, independent woman who understands that life is imperfect; there are regrets, but this does not mean life lacks value.

Fraud

“I believed my mother, who told me that the best things in life are worth waiting for. And I waited. That was the fraud… I blame myself… I shouldn’t have been so credulous.”

This novel tells the story of 50-year-old Anna Durrant, who devoted much of her life to caring for her elderly mother. When her mother dies, Anna—like Ruth Weiss in A Start in Life—struggles to put herself first. The story examines the expectations others place on us and how they shape our lives. Ultimately, Anna returns to the “bright, dark, dangerous and infinitely welcoming streets” of Paris, where she had lived as a young woman, recognizing that her younger self’s life had been a fraud—she lived according to others’ expectations rather than her own dreams. Fraud is a profound character study of a mature woman realizing her own desires and worth.

Making Things Better (also published as The Next Best Thing)

This novel follows 73-year-old retired shopkeeper Julius Herz, exploring the loneliness experienced at an older age, when making life-changing decisions is difficult, if not impossible. Julius reflects on a life he feels he did not fully live and wrestles with love, longing, fulfillment, and obligations to others.

The depiction of London’s bustling streets is a literary treat; yet these streets feel unfamiliar to Julius when we first meet him. Again, this is a deeply reflective character study of a mature individual confronting the ordinariness of his existence.

I hope this short introduction to Anita Brookner encourages you to pick up one of her novels. Her work offers profound insights into human nature, the subtleties of ordinary life, and the quiet dignity of solitude.