In complete contrast to other recent reading – and I’m a great believer in contrast in reading to stop you getting bored – I have now finished March’s book in the LibraryThing Virago Group’s monthly readalong – “Jane and Prudence.”
The book opens with the two heroines attending a university reunion. There is an age difference between these two as Jane actually taught Prudence having made a brief return to her career. Jane is comfortably married to Nicholas, a Vicar, and has a teenage daughter Flora. Prudence is single, with a stream of paramours behind her and currently enamoured of her boss, writer Arthur Grampian. Jane and her family are moving to a country parish and she hopes to find a suitable partner for Prudence, as she is determined to marry her off.
We are on familiar ground here with Pym – a parochial setting, a Vicar and his retinue of “excellent women”, the desperate decision to marry or stay single – and yet, the book is not dull or predictable and as always Pym’s characters sparkle. We are still in the 1950s, a time when girls were still expected to find a husband and be a good wife. I was, however, still a little shocked when, even though Flora is at University, Nicholas expresses the certainly that she will settle down and marry.
But Pym is very clever in the way that she uses Jane and Prudence to personify the opposing sides of the dilemma for women. They have differing expectations of life, perhaps owing to the age difference, and Jane on the surface seems sure that she has done the right thing; although the reader does find him or herself musing on her “unsuitability” as a Vicar’s wife and wondering how significant are her regrets about her literary ambitions. The difficult decision of whether to marry or not seems to have been one which preoccupied Pym, certainly in her early works. As one of their old university friends muses, “Prue could have this kind of life if she wanted it; one couldn’t go on having romantic love affairs indefinitely. One had to settle down sooner or later into the comfortable spinster or the contented or bored wife.”
There is an interesting side-plot with Fabian, the local good-looking widower who Jane has lined up for Prudence. Although they make a pretty couple on the surface, he actually has no depth at all despite his looks, and Prudence has glamour AND brains. Instead of taking a risk and marrying Prudence, he eventually goes for the safer option by replacing his late wife Constance with a younger version of herself, one of the neighbouring women, who will be comfortable rather than challenging.
As always, this book is full of lovely, sharp dialogue – this about Fabian Driver:
“You see, her husband was more interested in other women than he was in her. I believe that does sometimes happen. Her death came as a great shock to him – he had almost forgotten her existence.”
Pym shows her female characters observing men through the rose-tinted glasses of love – Prudence’s Arthur Grampian, when seen by Jane, is actually old and ordinary; Fabian is good-looking but shallow; Mr. Oliver, whom Flora adores when she sees him in church surroundings, is very disappointing when out of them; Mr. Manifold is an “ordinary young man”; even Nicholas, though criticised affectionately by Jane, is only a man. I’m not sure if Pym is a bit of a man-hater but she definitely thinks we deceive ourselves into love!
“Oh, but it was splendid the things women were doing for men all the time, thought Jane. Making them feel, perhaps sometimes by no more than a casual glance, that they were loved and admired and desired when they were worthy of none of these things – enabling them to preen themselves and puff out their plumage like birds and bask in the sunshine of love, real or imagined, it didn’t matter which.”
With the rather grumpy character of Geoffrey Manifold, I think Pym is throwing a little something extra into the mix and hinting that it will do Prudence good to be involved with an ordinary young man rather than daydreaming unsuitably about Arthur Grampian. I confess I saw this development coming, and I wonder if anything long-term might come of it, or if Jane’s emerging plan at the end of the book, to pair Prudence off with the local MP, might be Pym’s intention?
Jane, it must be said, is a wonderful creation of a character – scatty, untidy, apt to quote poetry at the most unsuitable moments, you can’t help but love her. Everything about her is well-meaning and despite her rather feeble grasp on the reality around her, she’s great fun!
As an aside, I was tickled pink that Pym resolved the end of “Excellent Women” by dropping into a conversation the news that Mildred Lathbury had married Everard Bone! I kind of expected that was what Pym was hinting at, and I do wonder if this will be a tendency in her books, as she’s carried forward characters from STG to EW, and then EW to J&P – I rather like this and I hope it will carry on.
In the end, I enjoyed this book very much and it had a lot more to it than might initially appear. Although on the surface light and frothy (and alas, this is what I think the cover and Jilly Cooper foreword are trying to project), it is in fact a quietly subversive little book with plenty to say about men and women. Pym obviously takes seriously the issue of what women should do with their lives – whether they should compromise and sacrifice individuality in a marriage, or stick to the single life and have the freedom without the comfort of companionship. It’s a big topic and one which is still relevant today, and Pym’s quiet but pithy novels adds a lot to the debate.
Mar 19, 2013 @ 09:27:18
Great review! Isn’t it lovely, that throw-in about Mildred? Though I find it very hard to imagine Mildred married.
It is so hard to get the covers right for these kinds of novels, I think. The reader should be lead to expect an delightfully entertaining read, for they will get that, but they will also get a lot more, as you say. How to reflect both the fun and the depth in a cover?
Mar 19, 2013 @ 09:54:53
I loved the bit about Mildred – I did sort of think that Pym was slightly inclined to marry her off but maybe she hadn’t decided by the time she finished the book!
The covers are a tricky one – I really find these particular new Virago ones too chick lit which doesn’t do justice to the contents. Yes, they are fun and entertaining, but the more serious aspects are reflected in those pretty pictures. The modern Winifred Holtby ones are much nicer!
Mar 19, 2013 @ 09:50:24
An excellent review!
Mar 19, 2013 @ 09:59:04
Thank you!
Mar 19, 2013 @ 10:33:36
While I was pleased to see new editions I really don’t like the covers very much. On the other hand, maybe they’ll encourage people to pick them up, whereas what I’d choose wouldn’t!
Mar 19, 2013 @ 10:39:22
Yes, I suppose that’s one possible benefit!
Mar 19, 2013 @ 19:47:04
Marvelous review Karen. Really, really good.
Regarding the covers, the comments above are the exact reason that when I got my editions of Pym’s books I went for the Moyer Bell publications. While not Virago Press, the covers are lovely and not ‘chick lit’ looking at all but more reminiscent of the Persephone end papers.
Mar 19, 2013 @ 20:51:33
Thank you Belva! I notice that heavenali had a Moyer Bell copy too, and they really are nice! I confess that I went for the Viragos simply because they were in a very reasonably priced set from the UK Book People site – 5 books for £6.99 if I recall correctly – but the covers would *not* be those of my choosing!
Mar 20, 2013 @ 00:14:25
You should read Glass of Blessings next to learn more about Prue. And I agree on the covers, Moyer Bell is so very Pym-ish I could almost see her wearing one of the patterns.
Mar 20, 2013 @ 10:16:58
Aha! Well, I am reading them in order so that will be something to look forward to!!
Mar 20, 2013 @ 13:54:42
I like these quotes very much. They illustrate perfectly that she is deeper than the covers want to make us believ. I’ve only read one of her books but constantly want to return to her. Excellent Women will be the next but this one should follow.
Jane sounds like a character I would like.
Pym looks very housewifely on that photo.
Mar 20, 2013 @ 14:03:54
Yes, she’s deeper than you might think – I’m enjoying reading them in order.
She *does* look housewifely, though she never married!
Mar 20, 2013 @ 19:10:51
Great review Karen, I think you are right about Pym being clever, and about the quiet subversiveness of this novel. I loved the character of Jane in particular.
Mar 20, 2013 @ 19:23:18
Yes, Jane’s a lovely character – I think I like most the fact that she’s totally comfortable about herself, and doesn’t care whether other people think she’s inappropriate. I love the way she just drifts off at a tangent!