October Read: Margaret Kennedy

This month's selected author is Margaret Kennedy.

Having been voting for her since January, I'm excited she finally made it and will definitely be joining in with this one.

I'm looking forward to this month too! I have Troy Chimneys and Together and apart lined up to read.

>2 Sakerfalcon: Hey, me too! In previous months I've read only one book by our featured author. But when I looked over my Margaret Kennedys, I kept dithering between those two until it dawned on me I could read more than one. Duh!

Now, which one should I read first ... ?

Just ordered Troy Chimmneys, the only one in Virago green I saw online. It says "very good" condition... we'll see.

I have ordered The Oracles from ebay - I hope it comes quickly. I have really enjoyed the other Margaret Kennedy novels I have read.

Guess what was aired today by the TCM channel? Kennedy's The Constant Nymph with Charles Boyer and Joan Fontaine as the protagonists and Alexis Smith as the wife. Unfortunately, it proved to be a hardly believable (especially the wife character) melodramatic (Tessa character) mess (Lewis character) that has put me off the novel, which I imagined would be more original and not a sort of Freudian warped "Romeo and Juliet."

Another example of the movie being far worse than the book?

I've just started Together and apart and I'm already engaged with the characters and their story.

>8 Sakerfalcon: I read the first two chapters yesterday, Claire, and I totally agree! "The grandmothers" are an interesting pair. I enjoyed their characterizations and what happened when they were together.

Limelite - I've read the book and seen the film and - for me at least - the first half of the book was great and then it went off the boil. Can't remember a thing about the film which I saw as a teen. But I have really liked others of her books.

I watched two films on YouTube recently. One was the film of Dorothy Whipples They Were Sisters which was a pretty good attempt to film the book and the other was Little Boy Lost ruined for me by the presence (and singing) of Bing Crosby, but otherwise a really really nice version of the Persephone book by Marghanita Laski.

I finished Together and Apart today. What a lovely book. Kennedy showed the ripple effects of a divorce, its impact on the couple, their children, and others in their extended family. It wasn’t preachy or dramatic, and the characters were all “normal” people with strengths and flaws. It was as if Kennedy was saying, see this can happen to anyone, perhaps even you, and you’d better think it through first.

>11 lauralkeet: I've just finished Together and apart too, and I second your comments. I thought another strong message was "talk to each other" rather than trust what you are hearing from "concerned" family and friends. I really think they would never have divorced if it hadn't been for others meddling. I too liked the imperfect characters, and the way the narrative took in points of view from all concerned. I really enjoyed the read. Next up is Troy chimneys.

>12 Sakerfalcon: I really think they would never have divorced if it hadn’t been for others meddling.

So true, Claire! At the beginning it seemed Betsy was determined and Alec waffling, and then Betsy started to waffle as well ... only to encounter meddling.

I plan to read Troy Chimneys too, but I think I’ll read something else first just to break things up a bit.

I'm off to bed in about twenty minutes - where I will starting The Oracles which I bought recently off ebay. It's a beautiful, pristine copy.

>14 Heaven-Ali: That sounds excellent from Jane's review. I look forward to seeing what you think of it.

I've finished Troy Chimneys, which perhaps I should have read before Together and apart. I loved the latter book so much that TC might have suffered by comparison. It took me a long time to feel interested in Miles' story, and I wasn't really convinced by the Miles/Pronto divide. I liked Caroline and Ludovic far better. This was a rather sad book about a life that was basically wasted through hesitation and a lack of purpose, but I didn't find it as moving as I should have.

Next up will be The feast, after a short break from Kennedy.

>15 Sakerfalcon: I finished The Oracles yesterday I really enjoyed it. I read Troy Chimneys a couple of years ago - an unusual but interesting novel, I also loved The Feast.

Today I reviewed The Oracles

https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2017/10/17/the-oracles-margaret-kennedy-1955/

I just finished Together and Apart (4½****). I especially liked the second part, Wrath, written in epistolary style with short letters. It gave me a humorous sense of the different views various family friends had of the divorce, almost like the legendary blind men describing the elephant by touch. My one criticism would be of her treatment of Kenneth, which I thought was a little too didactically cautionary.

I have a couple newly bought books I want to get to, but then I'm going to get on to Troy Chimneys (which should also qualify for the Reading Through Time group's 4th quarter read of the Napoleonic Era). I've already read The Ladies of Lyndon (4****) almost exactly three years ago.

>18 CurrerBell: that's a good point about Kenneth, Mike. Something about his character felt off to me but I couldn't put my finger on it.

I am still planning to get to Troy Chimneys. My original plan, after Together and Apart, was to read one other book in between. Then I had two library books become available in succession and just started the second one. Troy Chimneys is up next, I swear it!

I'm reading The feast and trying to take it at a reasonable speed rather than devouring the whole thing in one go! Such an interesting case of characters, some sympathetic, some absolutely awful, but most very nuanced. I love the way the relationships between people change and develop as the days pass.

I just finished Troy Chimneys (3½***), not as good as Together and Apart. Miles/Pronto came off to me as dissociative personality disorder, which I don't think Kennedy intended. The story reminded me somehow of the picaresque quality of Tom Jones (which I haven't read, though, in some half-a-century).

>21 CurrerBell: I agree with your assessment of Troy Chimneys. I much preferred Together and apart.

The feast was an excellent read, full of fascinating characters both nice and nasty. We know from the start that not all will survive the disaster of the falling cliff, and it is fun trying to guess who will make it and who won't. It was very satisfying seeing some of the more repressed characters coming out of their shells and standing up to those who've had a hold on them. The children are well-drawn and behave realistically, something not all authors get right. It's not always easy to make each member of such a large cast of characters stand out as individuals but Kennedy manages it well. This book deserves to be more easily available; perhaps it will join the Vintage reissues of her work.

Next up will be The oracles which I bought on the strength of Ali's excellent review.

>21 CurrerBell:, >22 Sakerfalcon: I'm reading Troy Chimneys now. I'm not far along, but am keeping your comments in mind. I'm not as completely drawn in as with Together and Apart, but I'm interested to see where it's going.

Mike - I had to smile at the 'dissociative personality disorder' comment. It's years since I read Troy Chimneys and I can't remember much about it, plus I had to go away and look up DPD. Multiple personality under a new name, right? How interesting! Makes me want to re-read the book.

I read A Long Time Ago and I liked it very much, but I don't think it's one of Margaret Kennedy's best books.

The Feast is still my favourite, with Lucy Carmichael, Together and Apart and The Midas Touch not so far behind.

A Long Time Ago was the book before Together and Apart and I can see similarities and differences. The former looks at a marriage that could have broken but survived and the latter looks at a marriage that broke but could have survived. I think the second book is more successful, because it opens out more and because it spends time with each spouse.

I finished The oracles and very much enjoyed it. The children in particular were great characters, and I enjoyed the conversations between all the pretentious art lovers. I don't think it's as good as The feast or Together and apart but I'm very glad I read it and that I own a copy.

I finished Troy Chimneys last week and, as others have reported, it was okay but nowhere near as good as Together and Apart. The premise seemed promising, with Miles struggling to balance his desire for a quiet country life of leisure with his public image as a “man about town.” But it just kind of dragged, Miles kept messing up his life and not accepting responsibility for it, Pronto was a jerk, and ultimately I started skimming. Meh.

>26 Sakerfalcon: so glad you enjoyed The Oracles Claire. I need to read Together and Apart (though don't have a copy as yet) as I keep hearing how good it is.