Monday, October 19, 2015

The Flower of May, by Kate O'Brien

   "But life isn't as Lucille would order it, you stupid child! Life is as men - I say men - make and feel it!"
   "I've noticed already," said Fanny, "that that is men's idea. But my life is mine, and it will be more or less what I make and feel it, I hope."
Fanny Morrow, just eighteen, is speaking to her friend Lucille's brother André on the Ponte Navi in Verona, on an summer evening in 1906. We first meet her several months earlier, at her sister Lilian's wedding in their hometown of Dublin. Fanny, just returned from her convent school in Brussels, is considering entering the convent herself. Instead, she travels to Belgium to stay with Lucille, and then joins the de Mellin family on a visit to Italy. When they return to Belgium, Fanny is called home to a family emergency, and Lucille goes with her, to encounter Ireland for the first time.

Both Fanny and Lucille are searching for their path in life. They know what they want: education and a life beyond the role of decorous daughter, whether in Dublin or Brussels. Lucille's family is wealthy, so she has resources and opportunities that Fanny does not. But she also has a father who hopes to see her marry into a family with business connections to their own - a German family. Fanny's parents have refused to allow her to return to Brussels, to study for her baccalaureate. Her sister's wedding was an expense, and they expect her to take her place as the eldest daughter now. To console her for that loss, they allow her to visit Lucille, and then travel on to Italy. Neither young woman finds the answers she seeks in Italy, though they find much to delight them particularly in Venice. Instead, it is in Ireland, in the midst of great trouble, that a way is opened first for Fanny and then for Lucille.

As always with Kate O'Brien's books, I found myself reading this slowly, to savor it. There were one or two places in the first chapter where I was reading slowly because I was somewhat lost in the language. The descriptions of the inner life of Fanny's mother Julia in particular reminded me of reading Henry James, where I know the words are in English but the sense of them eludes me. But either my reading eye (ear) became acclimated or the prose became clearer, because the story then flowed easily.  We see most of the events through Fanny's eyes, though the point of view sometimes switches to Lucille, and later to Fanny's Aunt Eleanor. She lives on the small family estate in the west of Ireland, which she stayed to run for her elderly father, and to care for him, after her sister married. It is still "home" to Julia, who returns there as often as she can, bringing her own children.

I have to mention two other characters who delighted me, in different ways. First is Lucille's mother, the Comtesse de Mellin, who takes the young women to Italy. She is rather scatter-brained and indolent, a bit like Lady Bertram (though much brighter). She is also a loving mother who wants her children to be happy. Personally, she finds Venice unsightly and full of disagreeable smells, but she won't deprive her children or her guest of their delight. The second is Mère Générale, Mother Cathérine Mandel of the Compagnie de la Sainte Famille.  As soon as I read that Fanny had returned from her school in Place des Ormes in Brussels, I realized that this was the same school and the same order featured in O'Brien's The Land of Spices. I did hope we were going to meet Mother Mary Helen from that book again, but no. Instead, we get Mother Cathérine, whom we know only by letter and memory in the earlier book. Here she is a wise counselor and friend, and a woman of faith, like Aunt Eleanor (who with Fanny's mother also studied at Place des Ormes). Though Mother Cathérine and Aunt Eleanor want to help these young women find their way, they know they cannot fight the battles for them.

In the end, a door has opened for both young women, but we leave them on the threshold. I very much want to know what happens next.  I have been plotting out different stories for them ever since I finished reading, while wondering if I might meet them again in one of Kate O'Brien's other books. I have several still to read, and others that I read so long ago I've forgotten them (particularly The Last of Summer and The Ante-Room). I do think that Kate O'Brien is a marvelous writer. It's a shame that so many of her books are out of print and hard to find, despite the Virago reprints in the 1980s.

N.B. I feel I should have noted that this book was published in 1953.

19 comments:

  1. Now I have another book for my TBR list; it sounds wonderful with two young ladies trying to make their way in life, a convent education and family demands.

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    1. Terra, there are not just family demands, but also complicated family relationships - which added to the interest of the story for me!

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  2. I loved The Land of Spices when I read it many years ago and I own The Last of Summer - I'm not sure why I haven't read it yet. I do remember feeling that O'Brien's prose was a bit impenetrable at times, but you do get into the rhythm of it quickly. I think this book sounds lovely - I adore coming of age stories.

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    1. I like coming of age stories as well, particularly for young women. They do remind me sometimes how fortunate I've been in the opportunities and freedom I've had!

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  3. TFOM is being reprinted in April by Apollo (I don't know anything about them). It looks very tempting,

    http://tinyurl.com/q4o7kss

    Thanks for the review.

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    1. I hadn't heard that, lyn - that's very good news! I haven't heard of Apollo either, so I'm interested to learn more about them. Maybe they will take on some of her other books as well - and Maura Laverty's, if I got to choose.

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    2. Apollo seems to be a new imprint for Head of Zeus, reissuing nine books by nine different authors next Spring. So maybe not the publisher for a swathe of books by a single author but definitely one to watch. Howard Spring, Eudora Welty, and Josephine Johnson were the other names that struck a chord for me, and there's a nice spread with all of the details in the catalogue on the Head of Zeus website.

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    3. I am not familiar with that publisher, so something else to explore! Eudora Welty is the only familiar name there, and it's been ages since I've read any of her books.

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    4. Thanks for that, Jane. I've always wanted to read Howard Spring, one of those novelists who were so successful & yet became very unfashionable almost as soon as they died. Apollo should be a list to look out for based on their first selections. We're certainly living in a great age for reprints!

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    5. And for rescue via e-books as well, particularly for some of the Victorian authors who've slipped through the cracks - though I still struggle to read e-books, it's lovely to see how much is available through Gutenberg.

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  4. I love Kate O'Brien - so much so that I still remember very clearly spotting a small line of her book in Virago green on a particular shelf in a particular library, and deciding which to borrow first.

    Of course I bought whatever I could find subsequently.

    I've been thinking about re-reading the books I have and reading the couple I've found recently and been saving up. I have this one so maybe I should re-read the 'Land of Spices' and then move forward.

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    1. Jane, I may have said before that her books were also my introduction to the Virago editions - all those lovely green spines. I rarely see her books on the shelves now, though I did come across a copy of That Lady earlier this year. I had a bit of a browse on-line last week and found some reasonably-priced copies (and some Maura Laverty while I was in an Irish & extravagant mood).

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  5. Love the quote you chose. I already like Fanny. I'm hoping to find this book, and some of Kate O'Brien's other books, soon. She sounds like my kind of author!

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  6. At least the Virago additions still seem to be available, Lark. And I'm happy to learn (from lyn above) about a new edition of this one!

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  7. I'm fairly sure I've never read any of her books but I'll definitely be looking out for them now. Thanks.

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    1. Just from browsing online, it seems that there are more of her books available (used) in the UK than here, so you may come across them. I'd be interested to see what you think of them.

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  8. Thank goodness for Virago. For many years, I bought every green spine I came across in the used bookstores I visited. There are still several in my TBR bookcase, but I almost always enjoyed the ones I read.

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  9. Trying again, for some reason blogspot makes wordpress comments vanish...

    Thank goodness for Virago editions. For many years I bought all of the green spines I came across in used bookstores whether I knew the author or not, mostly not. There are still quite a few on my TBR bookcase. I almost always enjoyed the ones I read.

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    1. Sorry about that - though I've also had trouble posting comments on Wordpress lately - at least on my phone.

      I don't come across the green spines that often any more, and I always rush to grab the ones I do see. Some authors like Kate O'Brien and Margaret Oliphant I have mostly in Virago editions. I feel the same way about Persephones. They're even rarer and I can't leave them on the shelf.

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Thank you for taking the time to read, and to comment. I always enjoy hearing different points of view about the books I am reading, even if we disagree!