Jolley's The Well

 

The Well / Elizabeth Jolley
NY: Penguin, 1997, c1986.
192 p.

I picked this one up thanks to the nudge from #SpinsterSeptember on IG, a challenge hosted by @Pear.Jelly. I've read some Jolley before and thought this one sounded intriguing. 

It certainly was. It follows the life of spinster Hester Harper, living on a fairly isolated farm in Australia, caring for her aging father. She decides she needs some help around the house so takes in a teenage orphan from a home, Katherine. They get on together very well, with Hester becoming enamored of the young girl, deciding to give her an education and treat her like family. Katherine does what's required of her, caring for "Miss Harper dear" and learning to sew - she's a natural. But living this "old ladies' life" begins to wear as she gets older.

Once Hester's father dies, they move into a small house on her property, just the two of them. Katherine wants to learn to drive, so despite Hester's misgivings (Katherine might be able to leave her!) she teaches her. But Katherine is always a bit wild, and driving home late from a party in town one night, she hits something on the road. Hester won't let her get out to check, but tells her to drive slowly into the yard, right up to their old abandoned well, and takes care of it. 

But this changes everything. Katherine begins to hear a voice from the well, and begins to tell Miss Harper all about the way she's going to get married and sew baby clothes and more. Meanwhile, there is an impending visit from a friend of Katherine's from the orphanage, another young woman who is planning on going to America - Miss Harper imagines her rapidly changing future with all these changes, and it's not what she'd planned.

This story is dark and quite creepy in its own way. What exactly is real, and what may be delusion? We're not 100% sure which interpretation is right. Katherine can seem dangerous and sly, and then in a moment, it's Miss Harper we aren't quite sure of. This story looks at isolation and repression, and the limited roles for women at this time and how it affected their behaviours. And at money, and poverty, and class, and potential. Really fascinating themes and also a bit of a psychological thriller going on. I didn't know much about it when I picked it up, but it was well worth reading! 

The Magnificent Spinster

 

The Magnificent Spinster / May Sarton
NY: Norton, 1988, c1985.
384 p.

I was inspired to finally pick up this book, which has been on my shelves for a while, thanks to the #SpinsterSeptember challenge hosted by @pear.jelly on Instagram. There are many wonderful reads being suggested under the hashtag, but I thought of this one right away, thanks to the obvious title! 

I like May Sarton's journals very much, but haven't always had a lot of luck with her novels. This one had an interesting structure that added to it; the narrator Cam is trying to write a novel about Jane Reid, her 7th grade teacher who had a huge influence on her life, becoming a friend when Cam was an adult. Cam says she can't write a biography so she'll try to do it as a novel, imagining Jane's life before her. And in various parts of the story, Cam's current voice breaks through, explaining how she's having a hard time with this novel. Those kind of meta parts were fascinating and I enjoyed them. 

The rest of the story was good but a little measured and straightforwardly narrative. Jane's life from childhood to old age is covered, and the changes are vast. Jane comes from a wealthy family, and so at least never has to worry about living in penury. Cam tries to show that from early on, Jane wants to experience life and has a great talent for friendship, although she never seems to have any attraction to the idea of men and marriage. But Cam herself is gay, and was in a long term relationship, and she and her partner discussed whether they thought Jane was gay as well - and came to the conclusion that she was more asexual, that her passions were sublimated into the love of life and friendship, that she lived with great openness and passion for the world. 

Jane's childhood in particular is beautifully drawn and filled with nature, music, art, sisters and a loving family. Her years as a teacher in an alternative school are fascinating. When she leaves the school and begins a middle age that Cam really isn't much a part of, it gets a little broader. There is a whole section in this part in which Jane goes to Germany post-war to run some kind of arts program that is supposed to connect the communities again. I found this dull and far too detailed, like a concept that Sarton wanted to get in somehow, but didn't add to the story. As the book felt a bit too long for me, this section that dragged could have easily been shortened, in my view! 

And then when Jane gets older and becomes a new kind of friend to Cam, needing her rather than Cam always running to Jane, this is more understandable and real, very personal rather than conceptual. I found Jane's life mostly compelling, in many ways, and it's a vision of a woman's life in an American strata of society that seems to have disappeared. As I mentioned before, I did feel that this was a bit too long and my attention flagged in parts. And I do think I still prefer Sarton's memoir/non-fiction writing. But I'm glad I read this; the idyllic island that Jane's family owns will be a mental getaway for ages!