The Wise Virgins

Goodness! Persephone certainly publish some fascinating and hugely readable books! The Wise Virgins - Pesephone no 43 - is beautifully written to start with. Added to that is the tantalising idea that it is said to be, in part at least, autobiographical. The novel concerns young adults, their feelings of restlessness and disappointment in the narrow, restricted world they inhabit. The novel explores, with great honesty, what few choices there were for young people at this time. their lives regulated by convention, they had little option but to marry and settle down to family life. For those intellectuals and artists, who might want more than mere middle class domesticity out of life, the world seemed a dull and pointless place.

An interesting but flawed novel, largely autobiographical, centered in a yound disillusioned Jewish man at the beginning of the 20th century and his differing life and romantic choices: the bohemian, intelligent, independent Camilla and the suburban, unsatisfied but conventional Gwen. Its main problem is a certain unevenness of tone and purpose: however, the book is excellent in the satirical examination of suburban life and the examination of the power relationships and self-delusions of courtship and romance.

Enjoyable book with the battle of going with society or doing your own thing. It is pretty progressive for the time it was written and paints and picture of suburbia in much the same way as it exists now. Looking back a hundred years life, and life's problems and choices remain prety much the same.