Olivia Curtis Novels

2 primary works

Invitation to the Waltz

by Rosamond Lehmann

Published March 1968

In a home-made dress of flame-coloured silk, a gawky, would-be curate as an escort, Olivia Curtis' first dance is either going to be gloriously romantic or an agonizing public humiliation. But whatever it entails it has to be an improvement on the Sheer Ordinariness of normal life. With insight and subtlety, Rosamund Lehmann explores the trepidation of a young girl's entry into the adult world and the shadows lurking at even the most innocent of social events.

The Weather in the Streets

by Rosamond Lehmann

Published 30 November 1972

Taking up where AN INVITATION TO THE WALTZ left off, THE WEATHER IN THE STREETS shows us Olivia Curtis ten years older, a failed marriage behind her, thinner, sadder, and apprently not much wiser. A chance encounter on a train with a man who enchanted her as a teenager leads to a forbidden love affair and a new world of secret meetings, brief phone calls and snatched liaisons in anonymous hotel rooms.

Years ahead of its time when first published, this subtle and powerful novel shocked even the most stalwart Lehmann fans with its searing honesty and passionate portrayal of clandestine love.