I've finished several books recently that really deserve proper posts but as the year is quickly winding down, and the two I want to mention today were library books that I no longer have (and can't refer back to), I'm going to just mention them briefly.
Jennifer Johnston is one of my good finds this year even though I've been aware of her for a little while now. I read one of her more recent novels, Truth or Dare, not long ago, and was struck by her simple prose and elegant style that was so pared down as to be deceptively simple. I liked Truth or Dare, but I loved How Many Miles to Babylon?, which I thought was a beautifully executed and heart-wrenching novel. Part of the reason I put off writing about it for so long was a fear I wouldn't do the story justice, and now unfortunately it only gets a mention as being a very worthy read (and definitely one I will buy to keep and reread). Johnston wrote the novel in 1974 and I believe it might be a book that is studied in schools in the UK and Ireland, though sadly I'm not sure how well Johnston is known here in the US.
The story is about a number of things, but what came to the fore for me were the themes of love, friendship and honor. To a lesser extent this is also a novel about class and society and the futility of war. Though it takes place before and during WWI and is set in part in the trenches of Flanders, any actual battle scenes take place off center stage. The story begins, however, in rural Ireland, where two very different boys on opposite sides of the class divide become close friends. Alec is the only son of wealthy landowners. He leads a lonely existence as a child, educated at home and expected to behave according to proper etiquette. It's painfully obvious his parents are unhappy and ill-suited for each other. Jerry, small for his age, but treated as an adult and already earning wages works with the horses on Alec's estate.
The boys forge a probably not so unlikely friendship, but they know better than to let the adults be aware that they're spending time together. While Jerry is left to his own devices more or less, Alec is kept on a tight reign and when his mother discovers what she considers an inappropriate friendship, she demands that he end it. When war breaks out Jerry is quick to join up. He considers it a way of learning how to fight and defend himself, skills that may come in useful later considering his political inclinations. Alec has no desire to go off to war and fight but is goaded into it by his mother who feels the need to keep up appearances. Being poor and Irish Jerry is a simple infantryman, but as gentry Alec is made an officer. The horror of war takes on a different face in the form of a commanding officer who is cruel and unsympathetic. Unable to deal with the stresses of their situation events escalate into tragedy for the friends. I shouldn't say this as I don't want to dissuade anyone from reading it (on the contrary I highly recommend it), but it was a hugely sad book, but the friendship between these young men was rendered quite beautifully.
Kate Pullinger's The Mistress of Nothing won the 2009 Governor General's Literary Award in Canada and is based on real life people and events, though Pullinger embroiders a fictional story around these facts. The book came recommended by several bloggers and lived up to my high expectations and is happily being published here in the US on January 4. The Mistress of Nothing is a historical novel that brings to life 1860s London and the exotic world of Egypt, specifically Cairo and Luxor. It is narrated in first person by a very dedicated lady's maid, so the story is filtered through the keen eyes of a servant with interesting observations and experiences and who sees and understands more than her upperclass employer realizes.
Lady Lucie Duff Gordon, a writer and intellectual, is well known in British social circles. As a matter of fact her salons are very popular and attended by London's literati. Lady Duff Gordon is in her element when taking part in political and literary discussions, however, she suffers from TB and her dinner parties become increasingly stressful on her fragile health. Her travels to warmer climes in order to effect a cure have been largely unsuccessful, so its decided she must travel to Egypt where its warmer temperatures and dryer climate will be more beneficial.
Sally Naldrett has been a loyal lady's maid to Lady Duff Gordon since she was orphaned and made to make her own way in the world. She considers herself a plain speaking woman with no great ambition but to continue to serve her mistress for as long as she is needed. She has traveled with her and sees these voyages as great adventures. When the two women travel to Egypt, Sally flourishes and like her mistress takes to the culture so much so that she learns the language and even dresses in the native garb. Lady Duff Gordon's dragoman, Omar, is a fastidious and amiable man who eases the women's way and unbeknownst to Sally's mistress a romance blooms between the two servants. I don't want to give away any of the important plot twists but will only say that when the romance is discovered, Lady Duff Gordon feels betrayed. Lady Lucie Duff Gordon is mistress to a fine home and family and any new found freedoms and happiness are lost. Sally understands she does not drive her own destiny and is mistress of nothing. The story is very well done and evocative of the time and place.
I'm not sure how many more books I'll finish before the end of the week, but I do have a couple more books to share tomorrow!