Loved and Missed, Crusoe's Daughter and A Narrow Door

 

I enjoyed Susie Boyt's latest three books, but this earlier novel is exceptional. Narrated by Ruth, the mother of chaotic Eleanor, and taking care of her child Lily. This is a book about feelings as it first follows the ups and downs of Eleanor's teenage years, and then those times when Lily is growing up, and Ruth seeing less and less of Eleanor. In the chaos of Lily's christening, we know that Eleanor has gone downhill and it is left to Ruth to care for Lily.

The baby turns into a model child and teenager. She is a constant surprise to Ruth as she is both hard working and caring. It is only late on that we hear about Eleanor's father. But what we do have is a writer on top form, the prose is actually superb. In other hands this might be a boring story, but here you can wallow in the words. Thank goodness there are a couple of her other books still to read.

Polly Flint is born in 1906 and the story follows her through the twentieth century with all that entails. Two world wars and electric light. But these hardly effect her life, an orphan at six years old living in isolation with her two strange ancient maiden aunts near the north coast. She tolerates her life with gumption and increasing intelligence, they have a maid and shelves of books. She is told she is good:

"I listened and watched and began to allow myself to be taken charge of and was rather put out to find very quickly that goodness, though a gift from God, was something I had to see after. For it appeared I might lose it. I must hold tight to it. I must clutch at it like the newel-post of the stairs, like the string of a kite. I must examine it like my new clothes. As soon as I saw signs of wear and tear it would be well to report".

A sheltered life is followed at sixteen with a first adventure with Mr Thwaite of Thwaite. An interesting house populated by strange wannabe poets? There are new places and people to see but always going home to the aunts. Young men come into her life before we race through two wars. So a fairly traumatic life but always tolerable. I didn't find this book to be as good as any of the other nine I have read, that is until we reach page 268. The last forty pages are trademark Jane Gardam and the ending is worth it after all.

Nowhere near as good as the previous two books about St Oswald's School and elderly Latin master Roy Straitley. Here he alternates narration with the new head Rebecca Buckfast. Although it is the latter who dominates by telling Roy her story. One of murder and intrigue. So very little about the school, more a rambling excuse of what and why she did it.

We are pitched back and forth between 2006 and 1989. Becky is a troubled soul and so she might be with all that baggage. There is a lot in the earlier days about her first job as a teacher (boring) and her marriage to Dominic, even though we have to wait until the very end to find out what happens to him. (Do not hold your breath! It's pathetic).

The ending is so poor. It is all set up for the next book, one that I shall avoid at all costs.