The Tortoise and the Hare

[The Tortoise and the Hare]
Year: 
1954
Type: 
Public: 
Publisher: 
Virago
Year of publication: 
1983
Pages: 
288
Moral assessment: 
Type: Literature
Nothing inappropriate.
Some morally inappropriate content.
Contains significant sections contrary to faith or morals.
Contains some lurid passages, or presents a general ideological framework that could confuse those without much Christian formation.
Contains several lurid passages, or presents an ideological framework that is contrary or foreign to Christian values.
Explicitly contradicts Catholic faith or morals, or is directed against the Church and its institutions.
Literary quality: 
Recommendable: 
Transmits values: 
Sexual content: 
Violent content: 
Vulgar or obscene language: 
Ideas that contradict Church teaching: 
The rating of the different categories comes from the opinion of Delibris' collaborators

A novel of high literary quality, published in 1954, about the marital crisis of Evelyn Gresham, a prestigious lawyer, and Imogen, his wife, younger than him, shortly after the end of the Second World War. They live in the countryside, in a village in Berkshire, not far from London.

A highly nuanced conflict regarding the behavior of the protagonists, very well portrayed, to which are added other characters, such as some friends of the couple or of one of the spouses, their son, the son of neighbors, and above all, Blanche, the neighbor who will cause the rupture. Pain, misunderstandings, imprudence, silences, which lead to the painful outcome: "The fabric of married life is made of trivial details," we read on page 307, and neglecting this premise is what gradually deteriorates the relationship between husband and wife, due to vanity, fear, and selfishness...

Carefully crafted setting, with vivid descriptions of the place where the Greshams live.

Author: Luis Ramoneda, Spain
Update on: Mar 2026