The Beauties and Furies

What a pleasant surprise to read such an intelligent novel set in 1930's Paris. Expert writing, a solid plot and verbal fireworks that outdo Anthony Burgess.
There are three principal characters, whose flaws are all drawn with high perception. Elvira Western has abandoned her dull married life in London and propelled herself into the vacuous charms of a young good-looking lover, Oliver who dabbles in socialist research. The third is dastardly, Marpurgo who insinuates himself with the pair and creates discord and destruction in Elvira's new arrangements. He also has the most fantastic dialogue at his disposal; Stead draws this vile piece of work so well.

Great book. Another hidden gem in Australian writing.

It’s not easy to explain how much pleasure there was in reading Christina Stead’s second novel The Beauties and Furies, (1936), published by Peter Davies, London in 1936. It is such a dynamic novel, rich with wonderfully complex characters and a compelling storyline, and all through it there are little surprises alluding to contemporary political events, which remind us that Europe was becoming alarmed about the rise of fascism.

As can be seen from the Opening Lines which I posted last week, the novel is set in Paris, and now that I’ve read the book, I know that those lines introduce the curious triangle of characters who dominate the action of the novel. The young woman on her way to Paris is Elvira Western, abandoning her husband show more in London to meet her lover Oliver Fenton, a student of socialism. The Italian gentleman is the villain of the piece, a Machiavellian pseudo-sorcerer, who interferes in the lives of others for the amusement of it. Elvira doesn’t know it yet, but he is going to cause all sorts of trouble…

The reader, however, knows from the very first chapter that the relationship with Oliver is doomed, and that is because Elvira exhibits signs of irritation and boredom already. Oliver is very interested in politics, but she’s not. She gets a crick in her neck from resting her head on his shoulder. She keeps mentioning her husband, and she smiles at Oliver’s vanity. And she bristles when he starts trying to remake her to suit Paris:

‘You’re beautiful,’ he said, but you don’t know how to dress. A French woman built like you would build up her bosom. I’ll take you to a dressmaker who will study your style and bring out your femininity. You kust go, the very first thing, to the Printemps, or to Antoine, and have your hair done too. Oh, you’ll spend fortunes on yourself before you’ve been in Paris long. You’ll be quite a different woman. You can dress, you know. You’ll be splendid when you’re dressed like a French woman. Everyone will say, How adaptable she is.’

She gave him a long surprised look and began to laugh.

‘Oliver, so I don’t suit you? You brought me over to make me a French woman. You’re an incredible chauvinist.’ (p. 13-14)

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/11/15/the-beauties-and-furies-by-christina-stead/ show less