Ok I will try answering some questions myself... I was very struck by the development of Kathy as a character (or rather, she's the one who most sticks in mind, in the years since I first read it). Like AN Wilson, I don't give plot spoilers in my essay here, but I'm going to assume if you've got this far, you probably know what happens. Perhaps in creating the glamorous outgoing Kathy, Mayor was exploring what might have happened if she herself, as a would-be actress, had settled down with a decent but rather staid man. Kathy's loss of beauty (and her feckless friends) allows her to show her vulnerability rather than cover it up with 'hilarity' and makes her all the more interesting as a character, I think. While Robert Herbert shows signs of turning into a Canon Jocelyn, perhaps...
Reading the novel again after several decades, I was struck just as much by Mary and the way the narrative brings you to experience the crises as I was before. The emotion for me was as powerful as ever. At the same time I took much more pleasure in Canon Jocelyn, finding him really amusing as well as a monster, given that such monsters had a lot of power still in the university system and did so for years to come. (A friend studying science at Oxford in the early 1960s told me recently of a lecturer who, finding only women undergraduates in the lecture theatre, stated solemnly since there was no one present to hear his lecture, he would give it on another occasion, and walked out.) Like you, I was very taken with the care shown to Kathy in the narrative, both accounting for her in a social/political sense, and enabling the reader to see her as a rounded figure. I think this works by refracting judgment through Mary’s sensibility, a wonderful skill on Mayor’s part I think and an updating of the Austen method. Thank you for reminding me of this wonderful novel, and for placing it in the context of F M Mayor’s life.
Thanks Heather for your wonderfully insightful comment. You describe the emotional power of this novel so well, and I'm very interested that you had some sympathy for the rather hopeless Canon Jocelyn. I guess he was a product of the system as much as he was - and I love that poignant scene where, trying to show his 'grateful tenderness' towards her, he offers her a glass of his best Madeira, telling her it's 'particularly well suited to ladies' and she drinks it to please him. I can well imagine your friend's experience at Oxford, it shows how long those attitudes lasted. The connection to Jane Austen is one I hadn't thought of, but that's exactly right - refracting the other characters through Mary's sensibility, even in her absence (as in the Herbert marriage).
I would have preferred that the Herberts addressed the issue of Mary less directly at the end, because you have to believe that they could throw off their habitual reserve, and I wasn’t quite convinced. Canon Jocelyn, on the other hand, is completely convincing in rising above his selfishness at various points, though never in a way that is going to set Mary free. (Acknowledging her literary powers at the end of his life, when he would no longer have to face the consequences, is typical of his twisted generosity.) I can’t recall what Virginia Woolf thought of the book, and whether she commented on it in the diaries, for example, but it strikes me that Leslie Stephen her father was a comparable monster in her life, and she did say something to the effect that without his death she would not have been a writer.
I thought Kathy interesting as well. As I was reading, I felt like she reminded me of someone. I finally settled on a less intelligent, more vivacious Lady Mary Crawley. I think Mayor did a good job of making Kathy more complex than simply a beautiful, shallow young woman.
What a good comparison, Katy! Mayor did a good job is suggesting her inner life (and I sometimes struggle to picture a character so it helps to imagine who could play them in a film). Mary could be played by Anna Maxwell Martin, who played Esther Summerson in the BBC adaptation of Bleak House (perhaps I'm thinking of her because her chracter suffered facial scarring from smallpox).
I thoroughly enjoyed the novel! I looked forward to picking it up every evening--always the sign of a good book for me. I like books that are both plot and character driven, and this one met those criteria. Mayor was a gifted and insightful writer. I highlighted extensively, both long, descriptive paragraphs and short, substantive observations such as "The soft power of time at length healed her."
I agree Katy. I liked very much how she uses nature in the novel, evoking how important it is to Mary, and writing very lyrically about it, even while insisting it’s not at all picturesque or dramatic.
Yes, as expressed with gentle irony in Ch.27 when she feels deprived of the countryside she loved: 'Autumn came with charm enough to transform the suburb.'
So glad you enjoyed it, Katy and I agree it does have a plot that twists in unexpected ways, but never feels melodramatic. Mayor does have a great way of expressing things, such as when Canon Jocelyn (at last) appreciates Mary's presence because he has also become softer with his decline: 'she forgot how frail is any building whose foundations are old age.'
I am so grateful that you introduced me to this novel, Ann. As I read, I had to keep reminding myself that this novel was published in 1924 by Hogarth Press. Just from that standpoint, I think Flora Mayor evidenced great artistic integrity in her decision not to embrace Modernist experimentation for the sake of critical validation.
The novel’s astute yet accessible psychological insights reminded me very much of Katherine Mansfield. Also like Mansfield, Mayor sensitively illuminates the struggles of marginalized female characters who display quiet dignity through pained resilience & muted grace to help readers view these figures with much deeper respect than the supporting figures who stunt their tentative quests for autonomous expression & fulfilling companionship. _Persuasion_ came repeatedly to mind as Anne has much in common with Mary. Perhaps both Austen & Mayor attempted to rewrite their own life trajectories through these subtle yet emotionally resonant character studies. I value the way that Austen, Mansfield, and Mayor encourage readers to cultivate deeper empathetic awareness for their achingly poignant protagonists in their challenged attempts to experience full presence in their insular yet meaningful lives.
Ok I will try answering some questions myself... I was very struck by the development of Kathy as a character (or rather, she's the one who most sticks in mind, in the years since I first read it). Like AN Wilson, I don't give plot spoilers in my essay here, but I'm going to assume if you've got this far, you probably know what happens. Perhaps in creating the glamorous outgoing Kathy, Mayor was exploring what might have happened if she herself, as a would-be actress, had settled down with a decent but rather staid man. Kathy's loss of beauty (and her feckless friends) allows her to show her vulnerability rather than cover it up with 'hilarity' and makes her all the more interesting as a character, I think. While Robert Herbert shows signs of turning into a Canon Jocelyn, perhaps...
Reading the novel again after several decades, I was struck just as much by Mary and the way the narrative brings you to experience the crises as I was before. The emotion for me was as powerful as ever. At the same time I took much more pleasure in Canon Jocelyn, finding him really amusing as well as a monster, given that such monsters had a lot of power still in the university system and did so for years to come. (A friend studying science at Oxford in the early 1960s told me recently of a lecturer who, finding only women undergraduates in the lecture theatre, stated solemnly since there was no one present to hear his lecture, he would give it on another occasion, and walked out.) Like you, I was very taken with the care shown to Kathy in the narrative, both accounting for her in a social/political sense, and enabling the reader to see her as a rounded figure. I think this works by refracting judgment through Mary’s sensibility, a wonderful skill on Mayor’s part I think and an updating of the Austen method. Thank you for reminding me of this wonderful novel, and for placing it in the context of F M Mayor’s life.
Thanks Heather for your wonderfully insightful comment. You describe the emotional power of this novel so well, and I'm very interested that you had some sympathy for the rather hopeless Canon Jocelyn. I guess he was a product of the system as much as he was - and I love that poignant scene where, trying to show his 'grateful tenderness' towards her, he offers her a glass of his best Madeira, telling her it's 'particularly well suited to ladies' and she drinks it to please him. I can well imagine your friend's experience at Oxford, it shows how long those attitudes lasted. The connection to Jane Austen is one I hadn't thought of, but that's exactly right - refracting the other characters through Mary's sensibility, even in her absence (as in the Herbert marriage).
I would have preferred that the Herberts addressed the issue of Mary less directly at the end, because you have to believe that they could throw off their habitual reserve, and I wasn’t quite convinced. Canon Jocelyn, on the other hand, is completely convincing in rising above his selfishness at various points, though never in a way that is going to set Mary free. (Acknowledging her literary powers at the end of his life, when he would no longer have to face the consequences, is typical of his twisted generosity.) I can’t recall what Virginia Woolf thought of the book, and whether she commented on it in the diaries, for example, but it strikes me that Leslie Stephen her father was a comparable monster in her life, and she did say something to the effect that without his death she would not have been a writer.
I thought Kathy interesting as well. As I was reading, I felt like she reminded me of someone. I finally settled on a less intelligent, more vivacious Lady Mary Crawley. I think Mayor did a good job of making Kathy more complex than simply a beautiful, shallow young woman.
What a good comparison, Katy! Mayor did a good job is suggesting her inner life (and I sometimes struggle to picture a character so it helps to imagine who could play them in a film). Mary could be played by Anna Maxwell Martin, who played Esther Summerson in the BBC adaptation of Bleak House (perhaps I'm thinking of her because her chracter suffered facial scarring from smallpox).
I thoroughly enjoyed the novel! I looked forward to picking it up every evening--always the sign of a good book for me. I like books that are both plot and character driven, and this one met those criteria. Mayor was a gifted and insightful writer. I highlighted extensively, both long, descriptive paragraphs and short, substantive observations such as "The soft power of time at length healed her."
I agree Katy. I liked very much how she uses nature in the novel, evoking how important it is to Mary, and writing very lyrically about it, even while insisting it’s not at all picturesque or dramatic.
Yes, as expressed with gentle irony in Ch.27 when she feels deprived of the countryside she loved: 'Autumn came with charm enough to transform the suburb.'
So glad you enjoyed it, Katy and I agree it does have a plot that twists in unexpected ways, but never feels melodramatic. Mayor does have a great way of expressing things, such as when Canon Jocelyn (at last) appreciates Mary's presence because he has also become softer with his decline: 'she forgot how frail is any building whose foundations are old age.'
I am so grateful that you introduced me to this novel, Ann. As I read, I had to keep reminding myself that this novel was published in 1924 by Hogarth Press. Just from that standpoint, I think Flora Mayor evidenced great artistic integrity in her decision not to embrace Modernist experimentation for the sake of critical validation.
The novel’s astute yet accessible psychological insights reminded me very much of Katherine Mansfield. Also like Mansfield, Mayor sensitively illuminates the struggles of marginalized female characters who display quiet dignity through pained resilience & muted grace to help readers view these figures with much deeper respect than the supporting figures who stunt their tentative quests for autonomous expression & fulfilling companionship. _Persuasion_ came repeatedly to mind as Anne has much in common with Mary. Perhaps both Austen & Mayor attempted to rewrite their own life trajectories through these subtle yet emotionally resonant character studies. I value the way that Austen, Mansfield, and Mayor encourage readers to cultivate deeper empathetic awareness for their achingly poignant protagonists in their challenged attempts to experience full presence in their insular yet meaningful lives.