The Ante-Room

I can see why O' Brien's writing was controversial in the Ireland of the 1930s. Although this isn't the book that caused any real controversy, so far as I know (that was reserved for the omglesbians), I can still see why her writing caused waves at the time. Catholicism, and the peculiarly Irish variety of it, permeates the novel heavily. O' Brien doesn't examine it in an ironic manner, though, but takes the whole thing very seriously and examines it with great understanding. In a way, this makes it all the more damning, because there is a sense of it being the insider's perspective, of this guilt and responsibility and pressure being a true and real weight.

The characters are delineated realistically and with depth, for the most part, show more though there is perhaps too much maudlin Victorian sentimentality in it for my liking, even though it was set in the 1880s. (I always have a hard time thinking that anyone has ever said "Ah! My darling! My own!" without having their tongue firmly in their cheek). There was a very suffocating, claustrophobic atmosphere to the book which worked very well in the context of both the events of the book, and its time and place. I think however that it succeeds a little too well in that regard, and is almost too much of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century for me to feel much of a point of connection with the book. Still an interesting relic of its era, but not one I see myself rereading much. show less

Kate O’Brian is one of the most beautiful writers. It’s hard, even now, to extract myself from the story and view it as a piece of writing.

Each character brings their own problems to the table, both emotional and physical, which spill over onto each other. There is a focus on the nature of love and marriage. Dr Curren is looking for a wife and mother of his children who he can fall in love with later. Vincent and Marie-Rose had a romantic courtship but his love for Agnes destroys their relationship.

We also see the dangers of the mother/son relationship. Vincent, who could only be himself with his mother, is crushed by her death. Syphilitic Reggie’s reason for living is completely created by his mother.

The sin and sensation show more contrast with the grandeur of the Mulqueen house. Dinner parties are thrown with the doctors as Teresa lies dieing upstairs. Vincent and Agnes sit by each other pretending they aren’t in love and nothing is wrong.

Agnes’s reaction to her love for Vincent was incredibly realistic and poignant. She doesn’t want to confess because she doesn’t want to give up her love. The impossible love that makes her miserable also makes her happy.

The characters rely on religion to make them happy. Agnes wants her love to be erased by confession and Teresa depends on God to look after Reggie after her death. But really both problems are ‘solved’ by the scheming and sin of the earth bound characters.

The Ante-Room creates a beautiful portrait of family life and how it affects us. It shows the internal thoughts of the characters beautifully. Its language is incredibly beautiful. There is no other word for it, it’s a beautiful novel and, although there is no particular immediacy about the plot, it’s a pleasure to loose yourself in. show less

The Ante-Room is set over the course of just a few days in 1880. Agnes Mulqueen lives with her father, brother, and mother, who is dying from cancer. When Agnes’s older sister Marie-Rose arrives for a visit, she brings her husband, Vincent, along with her—and Agnes must deal with the feelings she has for her brother-in-law.

This is another one of those books I really wanted to like. But because the characters spend so much time waiting, the novel drags a lot, especially towards the middle. Agnes’s struggle—her love her Vincent versus her extremely strong faith—could be interesting, but I just found it dull after a while. I found myself wishing that Agnes would just grow herself a backbone, since she allows people to walk all show more over her. Actually, none of the characters are particularly likeable, except maybe poor Dr. Curran, who actually seems like a decent guy. Even Teresa Mulqueen, who I’d normally feel sorry for, isn’t all that sympathetic. But the author is a gifted writer, and she touches on her characters struggles with a great amount of compassion. Since I like Kate O’Brien’s prose style, I’ll read more books by her. show less

Good novel about love difficulties in a wealthy Catholic family in 1880 Ireland. Interesting on the power of religion. The solution to the problem of the syphiliic brother didn't seem too plausible. Somewhat reminiscent of Henry James in the unnecessarily lengthy soliloquies of the main character.

This is the story of a late 19th Century well-to-do Irish Catholic household, following the lives of its inhabitants over three days. There are many characters in this story – a mother dying of cancer and casting a long shadow over the household; her long suffering husband; some of her children – spoiled, syphilitic Reggie, chatelaine Agnes and married Marie; strange son-in-law Vincent; and family doctor William Curren. And this is just some of them!

This is not a short book, even if it is set over a short period of time, and is full of characters; but it is not very involving – perhaps this is because none of the characters are particularly likeable or engaging. Everyone comes across as being quite spoiled and bland – even the show more dying mother comes across as a silly woman who has continued to play favourites with her children and keeps herself alive for the least worthy of the brood. Or Agnes, ostensibly the heroine of the story – you just want to shake her and tell her to get on with her life and stop feeling sorry for herself.

This book has a lot of potential – multiple characters with complex relationships, an intense situation, an interesting historical setting (Bourgeoisie Catholic Ireland) – but it drags. The reader will continue to turn the pages in anticipation of reading a twist somewhere, but instead it slowly rolls towards the obvious conclusion. show less

Found this to be very depressing .......still, I managed to read it to the end

A bleak story of unhappy or doomed relationships.