Dr Weiss, at forty, knew that her life has been ruined by literature. From an early age she had pondered the careers of Anna Katerina and Emma Bovary but emulated those of David Copperfield and Little Dorritt. Even as a child, when she blindly adored her actress mother and good-time father, Ruth sensed that they were somehow unsafe. Though she admired the lavish reign of laissez-faire at home, she achieved her greatest sense of belonging in the library. As the acting engagements dwindled, Ruth's mother took increasingly to pronouncements from her bed, to days full of instant coffee and the companionship of Maggie Cutler - less a housekeeper than a live-in audience. Ruth's father sought the novelty of meals actually cooked and served to him, which came along with a high degree f discomfort in the form of a Mrs Jacobs. Ruth made a break to a flat of her own in reverberant World's End for a time, though this was done primarily to provide a site for a romantic supper she had planned (and planned!) for a handsome do-gooder at her university - an occasion which must go into the annals of poignant meals in literature. Ruth's next escape from her parents' escalating dependence was to Paris, where it became clear that Charles Dickens was wrong - the world is not won by virtue. She met some lively people who did not seem put off by her studious activities, she spent a lot of money and had an affair with an eminent philologist. She thought greed, bad faith and extravagance had at last performed the miracle of making her into a confident, attractive woman. But her days of Dickensian goodness were not over yet. Anita Brookner's wonderful wit, the irrepressible autonomy of her characters and the marvellous narrative gift that never falters in delighting, made the appearance of her first novel such an exciting event. A Start in Life is a triumph - a novel of excellence and distinction that is sheer pleasure from the first page.