Penelope Lively has turned her considerable literary talent to non-fiction with “A House Unlocked”, a meandering collection of memories inspired by Golsoncott, the Somerset country home occupied by her family for the greater part of the last century. By walking around the rooms of the house (in her mind) and looking at fondly remembered objects and furniture, she recalls the events, customs and people that together paint a slowly shifting picture of English country life in the 20th century. It is at once personal and social – a diary of the house and its occupants, and a memoir of the historical landscape.