Von Arnim's Father

 

Father / Elizabeth von Arnim
London: British Library Publishing, 2020, c1931
296 p.

A new Von Arnim book for me -- Father was reprinted in the British Library Women Writers series, and I was fortunate enough to get myself a copy. It is a very Von Arnim story, with her usual poking fun at men in general, and investigating the options open to women who wanted to live their own lives.

I really liked this one. Jennifer is a maiden daughter in her early 30s who has been taking care of her persnickity father for over a decade, since her mother died. She's basically an unpaid housekeeper and private secretary, looking after daily comforts as well as taking dictation and typing her father's manuscripts. He is a renowned literary author with a small readership, and feels that his highly aesthetic work is becoming a little too replete with sensuality since he's lacking it himself. So he comes home for tea one day with a very young wife in tow. 

This is of course a shock to Jennifer, but her initial response, rather than being distressed and upset, is a giddy sense that she is now free to pursue her own longings -- to live in the county all by herself, taking care of nobody. Off her father goes on his honeymoon, and off Jennifer goes, searching for a cottage to rent in the countryside. As often occurs in Von Arnim novels, she has some run-ins with odd vicars and their households. Von Arnim does love to poke holes in religious pomposity! 

But Jennifer finds a cottage, against all odds and for reasons unknown to her. This vicar is more kindly disposed toward her, even while his spinster sister is not. But the vicar is drawn to Jennifer for the same kind of reasons that her own father kicked over the traces and came home married, and this causes no end of complications. 

The ending, as often with Elizabeth von Arnim's caustic eye, is both a "happy" and an ambivalent one. I was satisfied with it; I didn't really want it to end in any other way. But even while she ties things up neatly and traditionally, there's a thorn in it to think about after turning the last pages. The question of women's autonomy and the ability to live independently is key to this story; this is also found in some of her other works, like The Benefactress or Fraulein Schmidt and Mr. Anstruther. 

I thought this novel was lovely, clever, sharp and sardonic, with that wry humour I love about her writing. I'm so glad it was reprinted so I could add a hard copy to my Von Arnim collection.