Here's a book for the 'had to have this when it came out in hardcover, but then let it sit for years, and now that I've read it am wondering--why ever did I wait so long' category. Anthony Quinn's Half the Human Race is pretty much, in my opinion, pitch perfect. The right book at the right time that also happens to be well written, well plotted and of admirable substance yet still hugely entertaining. Ticking all the boxes on this one.
It is novel that begins during the famously hot summer of 1911 with a most likable and very human heroine who also happens to be a suffragette and a most likable and very human cricket player, both of whom have the very best intentions but are somewhat misguided (each in their own ways--at least in trying to figure out their emotions and how they relate to each other--but then which of us is not . . .misguided that is?). They come together in attraction and appeal and then clash and fall apart, as if they are always talking at cross purposes and assuming things that the other might or might not be thinking or intending. It's a 'will they or won't' they get together in the end sort of story and Quinn has you wondering and hoping and (and assuming, too--good and bad outcomes, that is) until the very end.
Connie Calloway is a heroine after my own heart. She is independent and smart and fairly fearless. She is educated and well spoken and will speak her mind in whatever the circumstances. She also is a devotee of the sport of cricket. She doesn't just like it for the social aspect, she understands it. When she is on holiday with her family she goes to see the game she loves most, mostly to see the 'Great Tam' play, a legendary cricketeer who has had an enviable and hugely successful career. She, however, has a run in with another player, a rising star for the county, Will Maitland.
This is their first meeting, which is mostly like two differently charged atoms that spark but then fly apart. Will is a perfect gentleman, and a fine specimen of Edwardian male chauvinism. He does mean well, but some of the things he says. Hmm. To be expected perhaps, all things considered. Connie is progressive, and did I already mention she speaks her mind? Most particularly on the subject of the Vote for women, but it is not beyond her to give advice/her take on just what Will's shortcomings in his execution of the game are. This is not something that is exactly happily received by ---shires most up and coming player, even if (upon proper reflection) she is not only well informed, but correct in her observations and assessments.
A subsequent meeting sees the pair cross paths once again, but this time Connie is trying to flee what is going to appear to the local constabulary as a compromising situation. Some militant suffragettes, one being Connie's good friend, have just shattered shop windows, and while Connie is only an innocent bystander (she's unsure she is ready or willing to take her strongly held beliefs quite that far), it is guilt by association. She dashes into a hotel where she is rescued by Will who happens to be lunching there. And so the stage is set and this is the beginning of their 'romance'(?).
Half the Human Race is a thoroughly enjoyable novel which is not to say it is not without weight and thoughtfulness in the telling. There is a lot of expected misunderstandings on both sides. How does a gentleman with traditional values reconcile an attraction to a lady who declares her mutual feelings and respect and then the lady goes off and commits a crime of vandalism potentially punishable by jail time. It is the Great Tam, who is Will's friend and compatriot as well as Connie's savior in a rather sticky situation, who will prove to be the thread holding them together. Will may be a gentleman but he's never met, or worse, been attracted to a woman like Connie. A woman who can think for herself.
The Great War will interrupt and intervene and no one will emerge truly unscathed. Wars have a way of maturing people and shining a bright light on just what is important in life and all the rest which should really not be sweated about. But is it too late? Has too much happened for paths to cross once again in any meaningful sort of way? I won't tell you, this is one you should pick up and find that answer out on your own. I will only say the story has a most . . . 'satisfying' ending. It goes without saying that it has earned its place on my most favorite reads of the year list. I liked the story so much I would happily pick it up right now, once again, without barely a month having passed since I finished reading, and start from the beginning all over again. I don't often think or say this about any story, especially the ones I like the most, but I think I might even like it if Quinn brought the characters back again in a new story. Then again, maybe they are best left in these pages just as they are to be revisited later.
I am quite tempted, too, to go out and order every other book he has ever written, but I have tempered myself by choosing Curtain Call to start with. Maybe I should say, 'reading pile--and those recent efforts to keep it small' be damned and march into my bedroom and pull it from its pile and start it now. Caught up in the pages of this story, I was a little afraid to open another book by him right away, but as enough time has passed . . . Don't be surprised if you see it in my hands sooner rather than later. And Mr. Quinn, any time you are ready to publish a new book, I am ready to buy it. Even in hardcover. And I promise I won't let so much time pass before reading it. (No pressure there, eh?!).