The third-person narrator of this novel follows the lives of several young women living in the May of Teck Club in London during World War II and of the young men who take an interest in them. The May of Teck Club is a women’s hotel run along the lines of a dormitory dissociated from any academic connection, or of a convent devoid of religious affiliation. It was founded to provide respectable housing in London for ladies under 30 “of slender means” who work for a living in the city.
Over the years, some longtime residents have prevailed on the governing committee to overlook the clause about the residents being under 30, but most of the women are of marriageable age, interests, and temperament. The house survived the blitzkrieg of the war—barely. On one occasion, a bomb fell into the backyard, but it failed to detonate and was removed by a bomb squad. Most of the story occurs in 1945, in the short period between the surrender of Germany and the surrender of Japan.
The narrator casts an objective and appraising eye on all the girls of any consequence, but there is not a protagonist who dominates most of the scenes. Readers learn more about Jane, perhaps, because she also appears in the occasional passages that clearly date from a period some time after the war, and because she introduces Nicholas Farringdon to the girls at the May of Teck Club. Nicholas enjoys taking meals with the girls immensely, although clearly he enjoys the company of beautiful Selina much more than he does that of chubby Jane. He is keenly interested in gaining access to the flat roof of the club to meet Selina there, and they find a way to do just this.
The early portions of the novel have almost the quality of a pastiche as the narrator captures bits of song coming from various radios, snatches of conversation, and selections of poetry that are declaimed by Joanna, a lovely young minister’s daughter who earns extra money by giving elocution lessons to those wishing to acquire the accepted accent of the educated classes. These captured bits frequently serve to echo a theme or to foreshadow an event in the story.
As the narrative unfolds, it begins with the carefree comedy of young single life in the aftermath of war: everything is still rationed, from cold cream to clothes, and so the girls barter intensely and share almost everything, including the beautiful Schiaparelli ball gown one of them acquires from a wealthy aunt. Slowly, however, the tone darkens as the content of those passages belonging to a future time becomes clearer. The May of Teck Club seems as safe as houses with the war freshly ended, and yet there is a hidden danger lurking that will place many of the girls at risk. Muriel Spark’s handling of the narrative in transforming it from light comedy to dark tragedy is masterly.
In the closing scene of celebration on VJ Day, the narrator allows readers to catch a glimpse of the event that helps explain those passages from the not-too-distant future. This strategy places the reader in the ironic position of knowing what Jane seeks to learn in those passages. The reader knows, too, that Jane’s search is doomed to fail. Just as the joy of the war’s ending is tainted by the discussion of the terrible new weapon that has secured the final victory, so too is Spark’s novel of comedy darkened by bittersweet irony.
Bibliography
Hynes, Joseph, ed. Critical Essays on Muriel Spark. New York: G. K. Hall, 1992.
Page, Norman. Muriel Spark. Modern Novelists Series. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990.
Sproxton, Judy. The Women of Muriel Spark. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992.
Categories: British Literature, Literature, Novel Analysis
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