TRAPIDO, Barbara - Temples Of Delight - (Paperback)

Book very good but has previous owner's name inside.  >>>   Have you ever had a friend who changed the world for you, who opened it up, made it sparkle? Barbara Trapidos Temples of Delight opens with the entrance of just such a person into Alice Pilling's life. When Jem McCrail enters Alice's school, everyone takes notice, but few are prepared. Even Alice is unprepared what their friendship will mean for her life. Jem comes in full of vivacity and vinegar, spinning tales and throwing out references that keeps Alice's head spinning with mystery and possibility. And just as suddenly as Jem enters Alice's life, she disappears.    -    Because of Jem, Alice's life is anything but ordinary. Echoes of the opera The Magic Flute, that Jem loved, begin erupting in Alice's life, as she goes in search of the friend that got away.   -   Barbara Trapido's novels are decidedly British, so while I have reveled in them, I have wondered if others would take to them or not. Her characters are touching, wacky, witty, and exasperating, and her plots are cleverly coincidental with a flair for the dramatic. There are allusions to literature, art and music that often fly over my own head, but that lend a certain delectable freight to her work. For me, her writing is as enchanting as Jem McCrail is for Alice Pilling mysterious, fun, exciting, surprising and over all too soon.     (Goodreads)