Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters

Knopf, p Library ed. Everywhere she goes, she disappears behind her mother's reputation, so she shuns social contact, erecting a wall of obfuscatory verbiage to shut down conversation and gain the privacy she thinks she craves. A new neighbor changes all that: Each story wraps a little too conveniently around Cornelia's own problem du jour—if her mother is in Morocco or Paris, Virginia takes Cornelia on a mental excursion to Marrakech or the City of Light; if she is feeling competitive with her mother, a story about Virginia's competitive sisters will follow—making Cornelia's emotional growth through the narrative trajectory seem rather contrived.

Virginia's stories require a sophisticated palate to fully appreciate the hijinks of single women of unlimited wealth globe-trotting in a post World War II environment; more engaging for young readers is Cornelia's own story of loneliness cured by an exotic, wise friend who has turned her apartment into a pleasure garden. Blume establishes immediate empathy for the child neglected by her overbusy, glamorous parent and constructs Virginia as so perfectly sympathetic that her death comes as a stunning, if not unpredictable, blow.

While the book's overall appeal may narrow to fans of old movies and to readers enamored of mental travel to far-off destinations in a simpler time, those readers will find much to sink their teeth into here. An unforgettable story of friendship and adventure that takes readers around the world and back again, Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters is a dazzling first novel by Lesley M. Hardcover , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters , please sign up.

Lists with This Book. This story was not at all what I expected. A neglected daughter of a famous pianist who would hate that I just called her that! I appreciate intelligent, quirky young heroines and I hoped Cornelia would be no exception. However, for all her seemin This story was not at all what I expected.

CORNELIA AND THE AUDACIOUS ESCAPADES OF THE SOMERSET SISTERS by Lesley M.M. Blume | Kirkus Reviews

However, for all her seeming maturity and self-possession, I often found her behavior discordantly juvenile, and at times too vindictive for example, always taking her frustrations out on the housekeeper who seemed, as far as I could tell, a sympathetic and kindly person. I expected the Somerset Sisters to be a group of girls who moved in next door to Cornelia. She could be like kind of like poor, caged Laurie from "Little Women" and the Somerset girls would be like the March sisters.

Actually, an elderly woman moves in next door. Virginia Somerset, the last surviving of four sisters, and her friend and butler Patel transform the New York apartment into tangible settings from Virginia's vibrant past. An Indian bedroom, an old English library, a Moroccan sitting room As their friendship develops, Virginia shares her stories with Cornelia.

She tells of the time in the late s and early s when she and her sisters traveled the world. The main stories involve Morocco, France, England and India--all places where Cornelia's mother is traveling. I should have loved the Somerset sisters' stories. I love travel stories, and I love the time period. I love intelligent, fun-loving, daring women. But, I just didn't really like how the Somerset sisters came across. Too often I felt they flaunted local custom, then were offended and sometimes behaved badly when those whose rules they had broken got upset with them.

The Somerset sisters were made to be the heroines, but sometimes I thought they were just troublemakers and should have behaved better. I also felt the mother-daughter story didn't ring quite true. Lucy was so distant that the eventual and I don't think this is much of a spoiler given that it seems pretty obvious from the beginning reconciliation feels too sudden and forced.

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I did love the wisdom and spirit of the elderly Virginia Somerset and her storyline was very touching. Even though I saw the end coming and guessed the "surprise" gift left for Cornelia, too , it was still touching. Too, I'm not quite sure to whom this book would appeal.

While I am a huge fan of multi-generational stories, and I fully understand the fascination Cornelia had in Virginia's stories children love to hear stories about people they know! All in all, the writing was decent and I was touched by the ending. But I never felt compelled to pick this up and actually ended up skimming Virginia's stories toward the end in my impatience to finish the book.

So, three stars, but a bit of a let-down. View all 12 comments. Cornelia is the daughter of a famous pianist, Lucy. And, unfortunately for Cornelia, that's all anyone ever seems to care about. When she's invited over for a new play-date with a possible-new-friend, it's typically because the parent wants to find out what Lucy is like, or somehow befriend Lucy via Cornelia.

Add to this the fact that Lucy is always traveling and never takes Cornelia with her, and that when Lucy is home she's often busy with her music, Cornelia decided to seek refuge in long, co Cornelia is the daughter of a famous pianist, Lucy. Add to this the fact that Lucy is always traveling and never takes Cornelia with her, and that when Lucy is home she's often busy with her music, Cornelia decided to seek refuge in long, complicated, and rarely used words. They are her barrier -- if someone starts asking her too many questions about Lucy, Cornelia delves into a profusion of words that no one else can understand and it's not long before the conversation wanes.

So, when a new and fascinating neighbor Virginia moves in, Cornelia is thrilled to discover that Virginia is not only a lover of words, too, but a writer. And best of all, Virginia seems interested in Cornelia, and Cornelia alone - not her mother.

So, Cornelia visits Virginia often, each time learning about some new and amazing adventure in a different country that Virginia and her three sisters had experienced when they were in their early twenties. Cornelia is fascinated by the stories, and little by little we wonder what effect they will have on her own life and relationships. I think the book is well written.

The prose is good and flows well, and I think Blume does have a nice way with words. But, sadly, there were several things about the book that just didn't sit right. For one, I'm not really sure who this book would appeal to. I like the idea of kids enjoying tales about older girls traveling the world - and think it is possible. But there seemed little in these travels that would appeal to young readers.

Even I found them a wee bit boring from time to time. And, there really wasn't very much with Cornelia herself. There was at the beginning and the end, but everything in between was very focused on Virginia, and I wonder if that would also lose some young readers' interest. But, what really bothered me was the lack of responsibility and thoughtfulness in the book. For Cornelia's part, what bothered me the most was her disdain, and often downright rudeness, to her in essence nanny of several years. Could the nanny be a bit nosy or sometimes push in on Cornelia's privacy? But she was also one of the only people in Cornelia's life that tried to show interest in Cornelia's life, and Cornelia treated her with annoyance and contempt.

This wasn't ever really addressed, either, and it really made me not pull for Cornelia as much as I would have liked to. Then, we have the stories of Virginia and her sisters. Interestingly enough, I liked the older Virginia. She, her hilarious dog, and her incredibly sweet assistant, were all lovely characters, very vivid, and I enjoyed reading about them.

Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters

But travel back in time 50 or so years and Virginia and her sisters become a little less vivid, and they proceed through their travels with an utter lack of respect for any of the cultures or people they visit. So many times I cringed over their antics, that were presented in a supposedly "good" way I got the sense that the whole point of their travels was to experience the "real life" of India, Morocco, England and the like.

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But these four girls, traveling on the expense of their father's wealth, have such disdain for most people of wealth or position be it a maharaja in India or a queen of England. But even more concerning was that the girls would often judge the culture and the people in it before they ever took the chance to understand its ways. Examples there will be spoilers in this section view spoiler [Paris: And when the lady at the entrance tries to collect payment, all the girls do is fling some random amount of money at her.

Okay, I could handle this since they were trying to catch their dog and didn't have time to spare. But when the lady tries to collect the money on the girls' way out once they have their dog it's made out that the lady is at fault - called "a witchy old thing" by Virginia herself. When one of the sisters decides to enter her dog in the Crufts Champion dog show indeed, the queen's dog is entered in the competition the other sister decides to, in essence, rig the show, causing all dogs - except her sister's - to get disqualified.

Is there any sign of remorse that she ruined something that several people have spent years and lots of money preparing for? Also in England the girls are allowed to stay in a very fine establishment because the owners know the girls' father. It's basically a men's club, but, provided the girls stay out of the men's dinning area, etc.

Do you think the girls could possibly accept this kind offer without intrusion? They end up meddling again because they think it's a stupid rule forget the fact that it's not their club and - after some dreadful antics - end up getting kicked out of the club, and getting their father kicked out as well. But, as Virginia said, "We figured he was better off without it. In India the maharaja and his other wealthy friends are portrayed in such a dreadful way.

But, what concerned me the most was the sisters split-second decision about the caste system and untouchables. I'm not saying they should have agreed or disagreed with it, but they didn't pause for any explanation before basically, once again, throwing their views on the maharaja just because they could. And they did it, not to better the world or try and help, but simply because it gave them delight to do it.

Now, in regard to their actions and reactions about the little boy I thought that was fine -- good in fact. But regarding what they did to the maharaja India also includes another line that pretty much says it all. When one of the sisters realizes there a place called a Thieves Market, she says, "Now, that sounds exciting to me. I've always wanted to learn how to steal something. Let's go learn from the professionals. And in some cases I very much disagree with them. But I felt the judgments were passed far to quickly. And for girls who wanted to experience different cultures, all they seemed to do was try and change the cultures to fit their views without understanding them first.

And just as bad, the ways in which they tried to change things - more often than not - was not to make things better, or to help people see another side of things, but either in underhanded ways that wouldn't really help anyone, or simply for their own enjoyment. This all sounds really harsh, but it bothered me a lot. Which is sad because I think Blume has lots of writing ability.

But the lack or morals or ethics or kindness peppered throughout the book overpowered everything else. I did enjoy the last few chapters, and they kept me captivated to push through to the end. I was even tearing up and rather touched. Which, even though the end was fairly predictable in part, it was a nice ending -- though very quick and a bit too rushed given all the issues that had built up over the book and Cornelia's life prior to it.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did I wish I could have. View all 10 comments. Cornelia Street Englehart is possibly the most lonely girl in the entire area of Greenwich village. Her mother, Lucy, is a famous pianist, and barely spends any time with her. She never knew her father. Her legacy should feel wonderful, but instead Cornelia is miserable and lonely. Privacy is as rare as diamonds.

Making a fortress of difficult words, Cornelia hides behind it often. One day while running home from school, Cornelia sees something strange.

KIRKUS REVIEW

Parked in the middle of the street is a gian Cornelia Street Englehart is possibly the most lonely girl in the entire area of Greenwich village. Parked in the middle of the street is a giant moving van, and on the pale sidewalk are dozens of large boxes. Cornelia begins to feel even more curious when she hears banging and other loud noises from inside the house.

Later in the week, a french bulldog runs out of the house and into the street. Cornelia lures him inside with some cupcakes she had bought at the bakery. The man who had been chasing the dog thanks her, opening the door for the women who had just came in. They are quickly introduced and Cornelia is invited to come over again. And thus the doorway to many worlds is opened I liked this book a lot. At first, I thought it was silly. It's about an old lady telling a child stories. But my view of it was totally changed when I read it thoroughly. Virginia Somerset has lead an adventurous life with her sisters--Gladys, Beatrice and Alexandria--and now she is telling all of it to Cornelia.

The author tells the reader about four hilarious journeys the Sisters take across the world to England, Morocco, Paris and India. My favorite character was Gladys, because she was adventurous, funny and clumsy, leading the Somerset Sisters into most of their troubles. I liked Cornelia too, because she was just like me: Who HQ and Jim Gigliotti. Jim Gigliotti and Who HQ. Save Queen of Sheba. Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison. I Spy the Illuminati Eye. Star Wars Adventures Vol. Disney Ralph Breaks the Internet: Disney , Amy Mebberson and Joe Caramagna. Horrible Harry Says Goodbye. The Case of the Missing Marquess.

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