Virago Monthly Reads: July 2018: Molly Keane

Molly Keane (20 July 1904 – 22 April 1996) was an Irish novelist and playwright who also wrote as M. J. Farrell.

From Wikipedia
Keane was born Mary Nesta Skrine in Ryston Cottage, Newbridge, County Kildare. Her mother was a poet who wrote under the pseudonym Moira O'Neill; her father was a fanatic for horses and hunting. She grew up at Ballyrankin in County Wexford and refused to go to boarding school in England as her sibings had done. She was educated by her mother, governesses, and at a boarding school in Bray, County Wicklow. ... Keane claimed she had never set out to be a writer, but at seventeen she was bed bound due to suspected tuberculosis, and turned to writing out of sheer boredom. It was then she wrote her first book, The Knight of Cheerful Countenance, which was published by Mills & Boon. She wrote under the pseudonym "M. J. Farrell", a name over a pub that she had seen on her return from hunting. She explained writing anonymously because "for a woman to read a book, let alone write one was viewed with alarm: I would have been banned from every respectable house in Co. Carlow."

...

Keane loved Jane Austen, and like Austen's, her ability lay in her talent for creating characters. This, with her wit and astute sense of what lay beneath the surface of people's actions, enabled her to depict the world of the big houses of Ireland in the 1920s and 1930s. She "captured her class in all its vicious snobbery and genteel racism". She used her married name for her later novels, several of which (including Good Behaviour and Time After Time) have been adapted for television. Between 1928 and 1956, she wrote 11 novels, and some of her earlier plays, under the pseudonym "M. J. Farrell". She was a member of Aosdána. Her husband died suddenly in 1946, and, following the failure of a play, she published nothing for twenty years. In 1981 Good Behaviour came out under her own name; the manuscript, which had languished in a drawer for many years, was lent to a visitor, the actress Peggy Ashcroft, who encouraged Keane to publish it. The novel was warmly received and was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

...

Reviewers were generally appreciative of Keane's novels. Her mix of comic wit and poetic sensibility was called delightful. Some reviewers recoiled at the "indecent" subject of Devoted Ladies, which was a lesbian relationship between Jessica and Jane.

The New York Times book review in August 1991 stated that Good Behaviour may well become "a classic among English Novels".

Her last novels, Good Behaviour, Time After Time and Loving and Giving toll a death knell for Anglo Ireland.

I've read several Molly Keane novels and prefer her mid/late-career works. Good Behaviour is my favorite. This month I'm planning to read Loving and Giving.

I've already read Full House, Young Entry, and Devoted Ladies, so I'll be reading The Rising Tide, which is the one as yet unread Keane title I've already got on the shelf.

Also, I have a second copy of Devoted Ladies, very nice condition greenie – first-come-first-served freebie, but you have to be in the U.S. (Sorry, but foreign shipment, even to Canada, just gets too expensive in comparison to the value of the book.)

Having missed out on Winifred Holtby month, I shall try to read the Mollie Keane book that seems most recommended, which is Good Behaviour.

I loved Good Behavior when I read it last year. I’ll be reading Two Days in Aragon.

>5 brenzi: So will I because I am very keane (sorry!) to finally have a good opportunity to finish my copy of the Virago Omnibus II. If I get past that I have another ten to choose from because I've only read The Knight of Cheerful Countenance so far.

I'm got some time off from work coming up and hope to spend much of it reading and catching up here :)

I've just picked Full House off my shelf, read the first page and am captivated already by Lady Bird's domestic troubles and the poor hapless "bearded governess" who picked the wrong shade of tulip!

I've previously read two Molly Keanes: Good Behaviour and Taking Chances. I loved them both but Good Behaviour was particularly impressive. I get the impression she got both snarkier and more polished in her writing over the years.

I'm going to read Loving Without Tears. The Virago edition is in her pen name M J Farrell. Are all of her books published under her pen name?

>8 kayclifton: it's a mix, Kay. I believe she started out with the pseudonym and began using her real name later in her career. In my LT library I have some books under each name.

I'm a bit late but have just started reading Treasure hunt.

>10 Sakerfalcon: Which reminds me to mention, I started Loving and Giving last night. Looks like this will be a good one.

I've read a couple of Keane's novels, but I can never keep straight which ones: from the middle though. So this time I'm opting for Young Entry if only so that it will become easier to figure which ones I've read if I begin at the beginning.

In other months, some have chosen to read letters or biographies, related materials. Is there a lot of choice that way when it comes to Keane?

I enjoyed Treasure hunt though found it relatively lightweight compared to, say Two days in Aragon. The naughty Consuelo and Hercules were fun to read about as they battle with the younger generation who seek to curtail their extravagances. Most of the characters were larger-than-life rather than realistic, and it is easy to see that the book was based on a play, which must have been fun to see staged.

I've also read Young entry, which I liked a bit better in spite of it containing a lot of hunting. I liked both Prudence and Peter and enjoyed seeing their close friendship and how it changed as Men came onto the scene. Much of the book reads like a pony story for adults, especially the thrilling ending in which Prudence races against the clock to try and prevent disaster. It was also very interesting to compare Prudence's prudish guardians (who make her wear a long coat over her riding breeches so as not to show the shape of her legs) with the more relaxed morals of the younger generation (who are still quite straight-laced by comparison to today). It's a bit horrifying to see all the smoking, especially around stable yards which tend to be full of flammable materials! But that's another sign of the times.

I finished Loving and Giving and highly recommend it. Molly Keane is so good at her portrayals of declining Irish society. This novel explores relationships and emotions in a more complex way than some of her other books. And in contrast to Treasure Hunt (see Clare's post above), the characters are very realistic. The protagonist, Nicandra, searches for love throughout her life, but generally gives more than she receives and doesn't see the ways she is being manipulated. This is a pretty somber novel in both plot and themes, but very well done.

>14 lauralkeet: This does sound good but I don't think I can read a book on that theme right now. I've started Devoted ladies which so far seems quite brutally satirical.

I have been absent again sorry.
But I did read a Molly Keane book earlier this month Loving and Giving which I loved.
Review here
https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2018/07/20/loving-and-giving-molly-keane-1988/

>16 Heaven-Ali: Ali, your review went live just as I finished the book, and I thought you captured this novel beautifully.

>17 lauralkeet: Thank you 😊

I’ve been a wee bit absent too as I didn’t plan on reading any Molly Keane. But if we are doing Viragos in August as usual I will try to get organised and back on board!

>19 kaggsy: we're definitely reading Angela Thirkell as our monthly author. If anyone is up for All Virago, All August they are free to start a thread!

I finally finished Two Days in Aragon a few days ago. My reading of it was badly interrupted while my sister and I cleared out my mother's house, which has now been sold. This was a very big and tiring job and for some reason I didn't feel like reading any fiction for the several weeks it took, though I did read quite a lot of non-fiction. When I picked up the novel again I found it difficult to get into. I'm pretty sure this was not the author's fault but due to my own mood not being right for it at the time. All I can say about it is that it reminded me of Elizabeth Bowen's The Last September. Both the era in which it was set and the social milieu seemed similar to my recollection. Still, finishing it did enable me to complete the Virago Omnibus II which I had started with the Vita Sackville-West monthly read early last year.

I then picked up Molly Keane: A Life from the library. This is a recent biography by Molly's daughter Sally Phipps, and was an interesting and quick read. Her mother had apparently asked her to write it and to make it "like a novel". This is probably why it has no chapter headings or contents page, though fortunately it does have an index and photos. I now intend to start on Good Behaviour though I certainly won't finish it by the end of the month!

I enjoyed Devoted ladies. Keane is pretty brutal in the way she describes and treats the characters in this novel; no-one is really sympathetic or admirable. The ending took me by surprise.

>21 europhile: that's a difficult job, Grant, and one that could easily affect your reading mood. Molly Keane can wait for another day ...

>22 Sakerfalcon: I thought about reading that one this month, but wasn't sure if it would be enjoyable or annoying. It's good to see your take, Claire.

I just finished The Rising Tide (4****) which I really enjoyed. Charlotte's delightfully despicable and Cynthia's delightfully ... well, so many things. This is the only one of her books that I've still got on TBR, having read Full House, Devoted Ladies, and Young Entry some three years ago for a Reading Through Time group monthly theme of "Ireland."

I achieved my aim of reading Good Behaviour this month. I can see why so many people recommend it - I found it compulsive although I occasionally flung the book down out of frustration/horror at the toxic family situation portrayed at the same time as feeling enormous compassion for the narrator.

I can only echo what was said above about Good Behaviour. I read it in three sittings and empathised with the narrator (though she was somewhat deluded about other people's feelings for her). I began to suspect the likely outcome just before it happened but it was very well done. However, I'm beginning to wonder if Molly Keane had a thing about fat women - one of the main characters in Two Days in Aragon was also repeatedly described as fat.

I did actually read a Molly Keane in July, but didn't get round to recording it. It was Full House, one of her earlier-to-middling ones and it showed. I had thought I preferred Keane's later novels which are polished and acerbic but I'm now wondering if I'm actually more comfortable reading the earlier books where she comes across as a little kinder and more compassionate.

Full House has lots of wonderful character studies and is framed by the theme of being doomed by the curse of heriditary madness. (Though through contemporary eyes, they're obviously all traumatised by their dysfunctional family). The mother (as ever with Keane) is portrayed as being completely dispicable, (to the point I started to feel sorry for her with so much hatred being directed her way)! Though it was the hirsute governess who really broke my heart.

>27 Soupdragon: interesting thoughts on the timing of Keane's work. The early/middle/late periods of her work are more evident to me than any other author I can think of. I strongly dislike the writing in her first few books. I liked Full House quite a lot.

>28 lauralkeet: I haven't read Keane's very earliest books and maybe won't rush to them if you disliked them so much!

I read Good Behaviour first and thought it so unkind I was reluctant to read more. Then I read an earlier (?) one that was full of fox hunting and equally unkind and gave up on her. I'm an emotional reader. I engage or disengage easily and not always rationally. I read two books by everyone - on the off chance I picked up their worst book first - but as I age I find myself unwilling to waste time on authors who upset me. Given that I am easily upset, that probably eliminates a lot of very good people. :) :)

>29 Soupdragon: I have to give Simon (Stuck-in-a-Book) credit for being a bad influence. 😉 Some time ago he posted something about one of Keane's first books, before I'd read any myself, but then I did and thought, oh he was right.

>30 romain: funny, I absolutely loved Good Behaviour. But yes, she can be more than a little unkind.