Three books into my Virago project, and I've hit upon a quirky, very whimsical novel by Rachel Ferguson. I really do need to find a copy of The Brontes Went to Woolworths to own as it is one that definitely demands to be reread, and the copy I had has been sent home to its library shelf. It took some orienting as I was reading--what's real and what's not wasn't always clear--but once I settled into the story it became more obvious. Given time to seep in, I believe I like the novel very much and I find there really is a lot to think about. And I see that I need to add some of the Brontes' (plural please--not sure which Bronte--or maybe all of them?) work to my reading pile. I had anticipated doing some extra reading when I finally get around to Justine Picardie's novel, but it may have to be sooner rather than later.
Childhood is usually a time rich in imagination and make believe. Somehow for the three Carne sisters this imagination never really fades away in adulthood. Maybe it's a way of coping with the loss of their father. Deirdre is a journalist and writer, Katrine is in the theater and young Sheil is still with her governess. Mrs. Carne does nothing to dissuade the imaginary friends that call in and partake in the Carne's lives, it's actually more of a family activity. Some of them even do seem to take a parental interest in the girls' well being. What I found so confusing initially is that not all of their imaginary friends were actually imaginary. Lord Justice Toddington and his wife Mildred, for example, are alive and well. They've followed Toddy's career (as he's warmly known to the family) as a judge for years. The details they aren't sure of, they of course, simply make up. And it isn't just Toddy, there's a French-speaking doll named Ironface, and Freddie Pipson of the theater and Dion Saffyn, a Pierrot. It's uncanny, though, how often they get the details right.
Imagination can take a variety of forms, though. It's when imagination and reality intersect that things can become dangerous, especially for Sheil whose grasp on reality (or perhaps better to say her understanding of the difference between the two) isn't always as firm as that of her sister's. On a trip to Yorkshire the family, along with the governess, Miss Martin, call forth Emily and Charlotte Bronte in a seance. There's something a bit menacing about the Brontes. They warn the Carne sisters off, and when Sheil becomes ill they return to London. The Bronte sisters will travel to London later in the book with distressing results. Perhaps having them go to Woolworths (I can't remember what they buy--a hairnet? I wish I would have written it down) helps ground the story (or the Brontes) more firmly into reality.
However delightful the Carnes' capacity for imagination is, they are all rather snobbish, I'm sorry to say. How they treat Miss Martin is truly deplorable. Agatha Martin can't quite see the benefits, particularly for her young charge, of such a colorful circle of imaginary friends. Agatha will get on well when the Brontes show up on their doorstep mind you. Of course the Brontes did understand governesses well. It's not just the governess who's looked down upon. Deirdre manages to talk Katrine out of thinking she's in love with Freddie Pipson (the real one), who she works with on the stage. How he speaks is decidedly common and no doubt so is his profession. Marrying him simply will not do.
I thought this was such a clever novel. It's certainly a reflection of the times (published in 1931), in that it's very class conscious. Ferguson herself seems rather bohemian. She was educated privately and sent to finishing school in Italy, but despite her traditional upbringing she also appears to have been a suffragette (or at least sympathetic to the cause) and spent some time on the stage before turning to writing. It seems only fitting that the Bronte sisters should play a part in a novel with such imaginative characters, when they themselves were such a creative family. A.S. Byatt writes in her introduction, "...they (the Carne sisters) are obviously related to the Brontes whose nursery narrative games were the imaginative centre of their lives and the source of their art". There's such an interesting combination of things in this novel. Rachel Ferguson's life experiences must have made a great impact on her writing, and then the Brontes' lives must have influenced how she constructed the novel. I love the interplay of fiction (imagination) and reality. It sort of reminds me of a room of mirrors (like you'd see in a carnival funhouse) where one reflection bounces off another and another and another. Quite clever indeed. This is one I can recommend if you can get your hands on a copy!
My next Virago is Rosamund Lehmann's first novel, Dusty Answer. It's already sitting on my nightstand. I'm nearly finished reading Mollie Panter-Downes' The Shoreless Sea (long out of print and not many copies floating around from what I can see). I wanted to read the two novels close together as the authors have been mentioned as being contemporaries. Mollie Panter-Downes' novel was written just a few years before Rosamund Lehmann's. It will be interesting to compare the two.