Summary and Reviews of The American Lover by Rose Tremain

1.

All day long, lying on the sofa in the sitting room of her parents' London mansion flat, Beth hears the clunk of the elevator doors opening and closing.

Sometimes, she hears voices on the landing – people arriving or departing – and then the long sigh of the elevator descending. She wishes there were no people, no elevator, no pain. She stares at the old-fashioned room. She stares at her crutches, propped up against a wing chair. In a few months' time she is going to be thirty.

There is a Portuguese maid, Rosalita, who comes in at two o'clock every day.

She is never late. Rosalita has a gentle face and plump, downy arms. As she sprays the furniture with beeswax polish, she will often talk about her old life, and this is the only thing that Beth enjoys – hearing about Rosalita's old life in a garment factory in Setúbal, making costumes for matadors. The places Rosalita describes are hot and bright and filled with the sound of sewing machines ...

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. In the title story, Beth, a once-famous author, disabled in a car accident and long abandoned by her lover, says, "I did have a beautiful life. It ended early, that's all." Do you agree with this statement? Do you think it's good that Beth sees her life that way? Does the theme of the briefness of life's beauty echo through other stories in the collection? How so?
2. What is the effect of the framing device in the title story? How would the story of "The American Lover" be different if it wasn't framed by Beth and Rosalita's dialogue?
3. Who is the true captive of the story "Captive," Owen or the dogs? What keeps Owen in his family's old house? What forces, besides the cold, bring about his and the dogs' ...