by Ada Leverson
Ada Leverson is chiefly known as Oscar Wilde's dear Sphinx, and that's sad because she is one hell of a writer. "The Little Ottleys" is actually a collection of three novels, "Love's Shadow," "Tenterhooks," and "Love at Second Sight," connected by the A-story detailing the marriage of the charming Edith Ottley and her horrid husband Bruce, with interesting B-stories about Edith's friends and nemeses.
Leverson's chief genius is in her style. She implies far more than she says, and she says it all with such economy, that even Bruce's monstrous behavior is served up with a certain amount of insouciance and charm. Here's how "Tenterhooks" opens:
Because Edith had not been feeling very well, that seemed no reason why she should be the centre of interest; and Bruce, with that jealousy of the privileges of the invalid and in that curious spirit of rivalry which his wife had so often observed, had started, with enterprise, an indisposition of his own, as if to divert public attention. While he was at Carlsbad he heard the news. Then he received a letter from Edith, speaking with deference and solicitude of Bruce's rheumatism, entreating him to do the cure thoroughly, and suggesting that they should call the little girl Matilda ...
Yes, you read it right: Bruce leaves his pregnant wife, whose condition makes him jealous, and is away taking the cure in Germany when the baby is born. This is not the style in which modern women write about perfidious husbands and lovers, and it is incredibly refreshing, unsentimental, moving in places, and often funnier than anything P.G. Wodehouse could have dreamed up.
The Patrick Melrose Novels****
by Edward S. Aubyn
Wonderful set of four novels collected as the fifth and final chapter of the series was published this year. Patrick Melrose is an abused child from the English upper class, who struggles with his dysfunctional parents, his addictions, and getting clean and sober with a lot of falling off the wagon. What elevates these novels is Patrick's interior struggle with forgiveness--of his parents and of himself. This exploration of what Patrick will do to reclaim control of his own life along with some very funny moments of black humor, keeps the reader from wallowing around in Patrick's particular tragedies and more on the human condition, which isn't usually a barrel of laughs to begin with.
UPDATE, Dec. 17, 2012. Finished the final novel in this series, "At Last," in which Patrick Melrose achieves an epiphany of sorts at his mother's funeral. There is a little less humor in this novel, but a passel of quotable quotes about the human condition. I recommend reading the entire series in one chunk so as not to forget how the characters all connect.
The Small Room****
by May Sarton
I find May Sarton somewhat uneven as a novelist. She has a tendency to think things to pieces. She is clearly interested in action and reaction as processes of human feeling (and I'm feeling a little shaky writing that summation because I'm aware of how vague it all sounds). However, Sarton believed in contemplating the vague the unquantifiable, and describing it, sometimes in excruciating detail.In "Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing," Sarton explores the life of feeling of a poet in old age and the way in which her emotional life has affected her work. In "The Small Room" Sarton does something similar (and, in my view, with better results novel-wise) with the lives of academics at a small New England women's college. Or maybe it's just that I'm a teacher that passages like this hit me where I live:
Jane [a particularly bright student in an American lit seminar] led the anti-Thoreauvians and in doing so kept Lucy [the new professor at Appleton] on her mettle. This was exhausting but exhilarating, quite different from one of the freshmen sections which seemed like a huge passive elephant she had to try to lift each morning.Lucy struggles with the quotidian challenges of every teacher, and I can't see that they've changed much in the half a century since the book was written: How do you maintain the energy to stay "fresh"? How do you "reach" students with new ideas when they seem to revel in dullness? How do you maintain a "healthy" teacher-student relationship when students want to involve you in their lives and problems far more than you want them to? Lives up to the quality of work in "Miss Pickthorn and Mr. Hare."
Codex***
by Lev Grossman
Thriller about an investment banker about to be promoted to a job in London who becomes embroiled in the library project of a couple from the British nobility. It sounds really far-fetched--and it does strain credulity at times--but it's a good fast read about medieval scholarship in the digital age. Would make a nice companion read with "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks.
Rose Cottage***
by Mary Stewart
I suppose this is what might be termed a "cosy," a British mystery plumped up by the cushions of friendly neighbors, cups of tea, buttered scones, fresh eggs, healthful walks in the country, and hints of romance.Very nice but forgettable period piece.
The Semi-Attached Couple and The Semi-Detached House***1/2
by Emily Eden
Two thoroughly enjoyable novels by Eden. She's compared to Austen, I presume because she's a woman. In truth, she's far more scathing and has a frankness about sexual matters that is startling for nineteenth century women's fiction. I find her much more like Thackery than Austen.
The Secret River ***
by Kate Grenville
You've read this story before. It's the story of a nation begins, carved out of the wilderness by white Europeans who neither understand nor care about the natives who live there. Except, this time the nation is Australia, and Grenville, a writer of some power, writes about events and people inspired by her own family who descended from transported convicts. The novel is written with lots of love, but it's a far cry from her absolutely stellar, "The Idea of Perfection."
No comments:
Post a Comment