About ten years ago, John Murray did some rather lovely reprints of L.P. Hartley’s novels – and it was around that time that I read their edition of his brilliant novel The Boat. And then Harriet wrote a wonderful review of A Perfect Woman (1955), and I was all set to read it asap. I suspect most of you will understand that somehow more than eight years went past before I finally read it. And it’s another excellent book.
L.P. Hartley is known best, of course, for The Go-Between – which holds the distinction of being one of the relatively few novels that me, my brother and both my parents have read. He’s not entirely considered a one-hit wonder, as quite a few people know The Shrimp and Anemone and the rest of that trilogy, and quite a few of his books turn up in secondhand bookshops – but there is still a wide range of his books that don’t get mentioned. And I haven’t seen many people talk about A Perfect Woman.
For quite a long novel, the plot is simple and the cast list is short. There are four main characters: Harold and Isabel, a middle-class couple who have married fairly contentedly for a fair number of years. Alec Goodrich, a novelist. And Irma, the Austrian barmaid.
How do these four come to know each? It starts when Harold – respectable accountant, unimaginative and (for that reason) broadly happy – is on a train journey. He finds himself oddly interested by a man sitting in his carriage/
Yet there was nothing so remarkable about the man. He was above the average size, loosely built and inclined to corpulence; he was wearing a good brown tweed suit, a brown and white check shirt, a knitted brown tie and pair of heavy brown suede brogues. So far so good: all was in rural symphony. But there was a discordant note, the socks. Dark blue and of cheapish material they were obviously meant for town. In his vacant mood the discrepancy worried Harold. Cautiously he lifted his eyes to the stranger’s face. There, at a first glance, everything seemed to match., The general impression was sandy.
The gentleman is reading After the Storm by Alexander Goodrich. And is, it transpires, Alexander (Alec) Goodrich himself.
“Well, yes I am.” He leaned forward, put his hand on his knee, and said with great intimacy, as to an old friend, “It’s always been my ambition to find somebody in the train reading a book of mine. I never have, but sometimes I read one myself in the hope that someone will connect me with it.”
Alec is boyishly open, and yet with an undercurrent of something else. He is clearly used to getting his own way, and expects no obstacles in his path. Luckily his own way is usually pretty harmless – in this instance, for example, he wants Harold to take over his tax affairs. The offer is made with spontaneous enthusiasm. Harold, who is seldom spontaneous, agrees with some misgivings.
Back home, he relates the tale to his wife Isabel – who is, it turns out, a big fan of Goodrich’s writing. It is characteristic of their marriage that he would not know that. She, in turn, has dampened down the evidence of her intelligence and literary leanings – as, the narrator drily notes, ‘was likely to happen when a woman of slightly superior social standing, decidedly superior brains and greatly superior imaginative capacity married a dullish man and lived in the provinces’. She is also expected to devote most of her energies to motherhood – Hartley is brilliant at observing children, and giving proper weight to the depth and strength of their emotions and fears. Jeremy and Janice are both drawn so distinctly and believably. Jeremy – eight, I think – is serious and worried. Janice (6) is obsessed with marriage and much less anxious, but still with a fragility that is very moving.
When Alec comes to stay, he befriends Harold and Isabel happily – but the woman who really bowls him over is Irma, the barmaid of the local pub. She knows she is a figure of fun to many of the locals and regulars, and takes it in good part – but Alec sees something different, and asks Harold to connect the two. Reluctantly, Harold agrees to try and woo Irma on Alec’s behalf.
From here, the tangle of the four characters gets tricky. Secrets and lies abound, and the worlds of literature and tax affairs provide an unlikely but wonderful background. Hartley’s theme is eternal, but I loved the way he bedded it firmly in the clash of 1950s middle-class stability and a kind of relentless bohemia. These four are not likely friends, and the whirlwind of their experiences together will loom long in all of their lives. But there is nothing sensational in the way Hartley presents this novel. He resists anything that would make this melodramatic, and it is instead moving and rather beautiful.
What a storyteller. I haven’t mentioned that A Perfect Woman is also a page-turner. The way Hartley combines reflective insight and tense pace is very impressive.
Hartley seems to bubble under as one of those authors who doesn’t need rediscovery – he certainly isn’t forgotten – but he is one of those mid-century novelists who hasn’t received their proper due. I’m already looking forward to reading my next book by him.
This review, together with quotes has definitely whetted my appetite. I already have ‘The Boat’ on my ‘want to find a copy to read’ list and will add this one too. The Go-Between is the only L.P Hartley I have read.
Excellent, Sarah! I prefer the Boat but they are quite different reads – this one is so pacy, and The Boat is very leisurely.
The Go-Between is one of my favourite books. Always intended to read something else by Hartley, but not there yet. I think it is probably even more difficult to find books by him in Sweden. Maybe the library.
Oo you must then! Might be tricky in Sweden, but Blackwells is always good for posting for free from the UK.
This sounds such a wonderful read. The quartet of characters is so appealing. You’ve definitely encouraged me to read more Hartley – I’ve only read The Go-Between and that was as a teenager, soooo many years ago!
Hope you can get hold of this one, or one of his! I still have a few others on my shelves to be read, and will try to get to another before too long.
I haven’t started on Hartley yet and have The Go-Between on my list, but this sounds excellent too and I see you mention the Boat, urghh so many to add!
The Go-Between IS deservedly well known, it’s also brilliant, so I think you could probably start with any of them!
This sounds great, Simon, and very much my type of thing. I’ve had The Boat on a wish list for a while and will add A Perfect Woman forthwith. (As you say, these John Murray reprints are very nice.) You’ve probably read it already, but if not I can recommend Hartley’s The Hireling, which was filmed by Alan Bridges with Sarah Miles in a key role.
I actually haven’t read The Hireling, though I’ve owned it for a long time, so thanks for reminding me :)
I’ve not read Hartley, though Mr. K thinks very highly of The Go-Between. Does sound like he should be much more appreciated!
Oo you would like him, Karen, especially The Boat I think.
This sounds wonderful and is now on my list! I’ve read a little of Hartley’s work (The Go-Between; the Eustace & Hilda trilogy and Simonetta Perkins, which is more of a novella than novel) and have enjoyed all of it a great deal. I’ve unread copies of The Hireling (it’s been hanging around, unread, for much longer than eight years!) and The Traveling Grave, a short story collection of “macabre” fiction — doesn’t sound much like Hartley, does it?. A Perfect Woman sounds like a great way to ease back into Hartley’s writings (I’ll have to check out The Boat as well).
Oh yes, I forgot about Simonetta Perkins – I read the lovely Hesperus edition of it. I haven’t heard of The Traveling Grave – that sounds very intriguing. Those early/mid-century writers all seemed to have turned their hand to ghost stories at some point!
Having just read your review of this book I was astonished by a moment of bookendipity when I found it in a bookshop in Sedbergh. I only know Hartley from having to study The Go-between in school. Still at a loss as to why it was deemed appropriate for twelve year olds.
Oh brilliant! I’m assuming you snapped it up :)
You’re right – I love G-B and the Eustace and Hilda trilogy (which I have in an Omnibus edition) but hadn’t heard of this one.
I think you’d really like it, Liz
In a moment of total bookidipity I read your post on a Monday, went into Oxfam on a Tuesday and found a copy of A Perfect Woman on the shelf. Having never heard of it or seen it before I decided it was meant to be! I swore off LPH after an overzealous English teacher made us study The Go Between line by line when I was aged 12. The same teacher inflicted Sons and Lovers by DHL on us a few years later. Why? Just why would you do that to teenagers? All that Edwardian repression just as we were hitting our stride … Hopefully this book will be an effective remedy