Frost in May

This is a Virago Modern Classic, in fact the first book issued in that series. It is the story of a young girl coming of age in a convent school in the years just before World War I. To my thoroughly protestant and currently non-observant-of-anything outlook, this is the story of the systematic destruction of minds and souls in the name of "love" and obedience to an utterly perverse supreme being. Any expression of joy, kindness or love for fellow humans, appreciation of beauty, or even excellence is somehow suspect, and if taken too far, grounds for mortification. Our protagonist, Fernanda Grey, struggles with her desire to be a proper Catholic set against her terror that she may receive the "call" and be destined to take the veil, or show more worse, that she will miss the message, and be doomed to live life having rejected a vocation without realizing it. This reminds me of the terror of MY adolescence, born of precisely the same adult-fostered ignorance, that any number of perfectly innocent interactions with boys might result in having a baby. The most disturbing thing about this novel, I think, is that I'm not sure whether the author means us to feel what I feel while reading it, or whether she is presenting Nanda's story as some sort of cautionary tale. I suspect this will be made clearer in White's three "sequel" novels, and as cranky as this one made me, I am contrarily eager to read those too. show less

A beautifully observed book, Frost in May is set in a Catholic girls' boarding school in England in the 1910s. Young Nanda Gray, the daughter of a recent convert to Catholicism, at once finds herself entranced by the romanticised religiosity of the nuns and her fellow students, and uneasy with the petty cruelties inflicted by the nuns that are designed to break down those girls who take pleasure in, show an aptitude for, or independently think about, well, pretty much anything.

As someone who was educated in a similar environment to Nanda, but who never had any faith to speak of, even as a child, the experience of reading Frost in May was at once alienating and queasily familiar. No contemporary YA dystopia comes close to the kind of show more hothouse, authoritarian, ritualised power games that play out here—and often for such small stakes. show less

The Virago group is doing themed monthly reads and the first was "Nuns, Teachers, and Governesses". I have about 6 unread viragos on my shelf, so I'm trying to read them when they fit a category. I had never read [Frost in May], which is Virago #1, so I took the opportunity and I'm so glad I did!

[Frost in May] is about a young girl whose father has recently converted to Catholicism. He sends her to a conservative Catholic boarding school. There, 9 year old Nanda whole-heartedly discovers the Catholic faith, makes friends, and begins to know herself. She is immersed in the closed world of the convent, where self-control, discipline, and humility are demanded of these young children. The glimmers of non-conformity come from a few of her show more friends at the convent who have more worldly families and from Nanda's mother, who during brief visits, obviously shows that she does not buy in to the system. Though internally Nanda embraces the lifestyle, some of her actions don't fit with the convent rules and the book does not end happily from Nanda's point of view.

I unexpectedly found this book delightful. There is a subtle and slightly subversive humor throughout from the author, but at the same time she perfectly captures the rigidity of a child's mind as it opens up through the teen years.

I would love to know more about the politics/cultural ramifications of converting to Catholicism in England in the early 1900s. I'm curious if there was a deeper cultural statement being made in the book that I didn't have the background to comprehend.

Original publication date: 1933, Virago publication date 1978 (#1)
Author’s nationality: British
Original language: English
Length: 221 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Format/where I acquired the book: given to me by Barbara/romain from the Virago group
Why I read this: virago monthly challenge show less

The novel starts with Nanda arriving at the Convent of the Five Wounds Catholic boarding school at nine-years of age. Her father had recently converted to Catholicism and she quickly picks up that this makes her a second class Catholic, compared to those who come from long-standing Catholic families. Nanda is a clever and creative young person who quite normally craves close friends. However, creativity, free will and young women talking in groups of only two are all frowned on at the Convent. Nanda continues to be very devout but has doubts when she can't quite reach the level of emotional engagement with Catholic traditions that others claim. Antonia White writes brilliantly and constantly makes fun of the Catholic faith, beliefs and show more dogma, as Nanda struggles hard to accept. The Nuns main aim is to break any free spirited child and achieve unquestioning acceptance of Catholicism and they take this to extremes. The novel is all set in the convent, apart from one section at home at Christmas, and has the same stifling and incense-rich atmosphere of the convent. An excellent and interesting read. show less

Set in the early 1900s, Nanda is nine years old when her father enrolls her in the convent school outside of London called Convent of the Five Wounds. She quickly learns, in this closed society, that she has to please only God. And, of course, the stodgy, cruel nuns that run the place. (I can say that, as a lapsed Catholic who has had my fill of nuns.) There was a little too much of the holy affairs in the early part of the book but then as Nanda grew up to be a teenager there was a sense of dread that somehow her attention to the rules was slipping and the nuns were going to catch her doing something they didn't allow which was just about anything really. The author was great at character development and creating this sense of doom.

I show more followed it up by listening to the Backlisted podcast about the book and it was absolutely wonderful and revealed that the book was very autobiographical and played parts of an interview with the author from the 60s. show less

Young Nanda Grey has a pious nature and wants nothing more than to be a good Catholic girl, but the stifling, rigid atmosphere of her convent school, where creativity is frowned upon and "particular friendships" are strongly discouraged, threatens to destroy her sense of self. Although the novel drags in places, especially when the reader is subjected to Nanda's retreat notes on Catholic doctrine, I do want to read more by Antonia White.

The story opens with Nanda traveling to her new Catholic school, a convent of the Five Wounds. Although she is not thrilled, Nanda quickly succumbs to the deep ritual and sanctity of the school. Nanda and her parents are Catholic converts, and she loves her new religion, even if she is not always as fond of the nuns. The short novel traces her experience over the four years she is enrolled in the convent school, focusing on the daily structure of her school, the unrelenting discipline, and her important friendships.

The majority of the book centers on life in the school. Large sections are dedicated to describing daily school classes and religious services, the many festivals and special holy occasions that pepper the year, and the show more Catholic lessons taught to students. With the author's clean and intimate style, these sections were easy to read, but not terribly exciting for me. I was much more interested in passages that detailed Nanda's relationships with her classmates. On the other hand, the numerous descriptions of school life painted a completely convincing portrayal of the world that enveloped Nanda. Just as Nanda is shocked to realize, towards the end of the book, how thoroughly her life has been infiltrated by the ideals of her school, I was surprised by how much the setting of this book had pulled me in. Once I finished, I discovered that I missed the enclosed esoteric world, despite the fact that I was underwhelmed while reading.

Nanda is a sweet girl, full of subtle contradictions, and relatable to the reader. She is compliant, but a streak of stubborn defiance runs through her and eventually shows up in her school work and participation. She loves her faith and church, but is often frustrated with its clergy (especially the nuns). She wants to be obedient to God, but feels a tug towards the arts and the written word that she thinks is at odds with her religion. Nanda becomes friends with fascinating minor characters, like Claire and Leonie. Their interactions are the best part of the novel, as the writer strongly presents the bond and intimacy of a young girl's friendships.

The nuns, however, are not entirely pleased with these relationships. They want the girls to associate and be amiable, but not actually friends. Too much nearness can lead to rebellion. And rebellion is brewing inside Nanda. She loves her religion, and the freedom it brings, but the nuns' mission is to break the spirit of every girl so that she will be able to receive God's will for her. They believe that anything precious or important to the girls must be suppressed, for their own good. The conflict between these two ideologies - freedom or repression in faith - is a central theme in the book. Eventually, Nanda chooses her path, albeit inadvertently. The nuns find her novel, rife with inappropriate material (she intended a dramatic conversion at the end to justify her juicier content). She must leave her school, and it breaks her heart, in spite of all her fight against it.

As I wrote earlier, the world created in this novel is engrossing. The author must have spent time in a Catholic school herself, as the book is steeped with the minutia of that life, along with excerpts from sermons and lesson books. I understand that the author's major themes are furthered by these details, but they do bog down the novel at times. I liked Nanda and her friends, and I was enraged on Nanda's behalf at some of the ridiculous hypocrisy she had to endure. I'm a Christian, but I do not subscribe to those beliefs. These strong features don't entirely balance out a plot that is slow and heavier on the setting than the character interactions. The novel does a marvelous job creating a Catholic setting, and presents interesting and complex people, but doesn't do enough with them. The internal struggles and personal revelation, which is where the confrontations and climax occur, would work well in a short story. In the end, the novel only maintained an intermittent hold on my interest, and while it was good, it could have been better. show less