Two books at least partly from the 1930s

[bunn]

In which I witter on at considerable and probably tedious length about two books that I read, and my uninformed and confused ideas that those books sparked off each other in my head.

My Place by Sally Morgan

Comments

[bunn]

I think I first read the copy that was in the St Hilda's fiction library, which gives it multiple nostalgic echoes for me: the timeless echoes (punting, May Morning), the 'coming back to Oxford as a grownup' thing and the memory of reading it and noticing all the changed and unchanging things...

Dated...? I suppose it is, but after all, it was written in 1935. I tend to think of it as a period piece, interesting for the way it reflects the complex attitudes and ideas and worries of its time.

[arrowthroughme]

Hi there, you don't know me, but the new LJ app suddenly forces new posts by any user on me instead of just my friends page, which is how I came to read your post. I know both books and I wanted to say thank you for reminding me; I think it's more than 20 years since I read Sally Morgan, so I definitely want to read it again now. And it never occurred to me to place those novels side by side. So, from a fellow reader - thanks again!

arrowthroughme

[bunn]

Hello! That sounds odd, but I'm glad you found the post serendipitously interesting!

I wondered if anyone on my list would have read 'My Place' - I think it's a tad obscure here in the UK. Can I ask if you are Australian, or did you pick it up outside of its immediate market as I did? I think it merits a wide readership but I get the impression that Australian writers often don't get much attention in Europe.

[arrowthroughme]

I'm German actually, but I spent a year in Melbourne after graduation, teaching, and while there I tried to read as much Australian literature as I could. I read My Place during a holiday in Perth, I remember that. You're right, I didn't know anyone outside Australia who knew the novel before reading your post, however, I just remember that our English textbooks for year 9 feature Rabbitproof Fence. (I'm a teacher.)

[bunn]

Ah, right - I find reading the stories of the local area adds an interesting extra layer to a new place too.

Rabbitproof Fence I've come across, and also Thomas Keneally, of course.

[houseboatonstyx]

Sayers herself had an undisclosed illegitimate son whom she sent off elsewhere to be raised, paying his expenses and [iirc on holidays writing him formal iirc] letters signed "Your Mother". I don't remember where he was sent off to; some private arrangement I expect.

[bunn]

Did she really? Interesting, I never knew that and it certainly adds a sharpness to those already-uncomfortable exchanges about the 'womanly woman'.

[houseboatonstyx]

My memory sources that item as from some respectable recent biography of Sayers.

What I, USian reader of Brit Golden Age Christie and such, was shocked by in Gaudy Night was this. Near the end, the suspects were gathered for the conclusive sorting-out and solution, during which, as customary in the genre, the guilty person broke out with a long position statement and confession, thus exonerating them all and saving their careers, and the reputation of the college. The Warden's immediate reaction was to apologize to the suspects for allowing such an embarrassing scene.

[bunn]

If in doubt, apologise! It is the British Way. Or at least, the British Way in situations where nobody has actually done anything to apologise for, apologising *when actually at fault* is a Whole Other Thing.

It hadn't even struck me as odd. Interesting perspective!

[heliopausa]

It was not only illegitimate children who were placed in homes in the 1920s and 1930s; my (Australian) mother-in-law and siblings were sent to a home when their mother died, and retrieved later when he remarried. It was a horribly traumatic experience for her.

[bunn]

Ooh that's horrible :-(

You look at it now and think: who thought that was a good idea??? It's just mad.