Page 69 - Phonebox Magazine October 2012

Book Review
By Oxfam Bookshop, Olney
Good Wives? Mary, Fanny, Jennie and me by Margaret Forster
In 1949, when Margaret Forster was eleven years old she was a bridesmaid. It was the first time she had been to a wedding, so when the bride and groom were asked the all-important questions, she listened carefully. To her surprise she noticed that, although the bride promised to obey her husband, no such promise was made by the bridegroom. She subsequently learned from her mother that this was part of the marriage service, and so was emphatic that she would never get married.
Fanny, wife of the novelist Robert Louis Stevenson was married twice. Her first marriage to Samuel Osbourne, undertaken when she was only seventeen, ended in divorce which enabled her to marry Louis, as he was known. It was to him that she became the obedient wife, coping with his illnesses, his feckless attitude to money – and his friends.
I never wanted to be a wife, she writes, that feeble creature who obeyed.
Finally, in sharp contrast, the writer chooses Jennie Lee, wife of Aneurin Bevin as the example of a bride who did not promise to obey, and whose Parliamentary career was of equal importance to her as that of her husband.
It was as a result of that experience that ʻGood Wives?ʼ came into being. Margaret Forster has chosen three women, each married to well-known men, and explored their relationships, considering how marriage has affected them.
After each biography, there is a reflection, in which Margaret Forster gives her own strong views about the married life of each of her chosen subjects. The final reflection is the longest, in which she describes her own married life.
First is Mary, married to David Livingstone, the famous explorer and missionary. Born and brought up on an African mission station, Mary was accustomed to hard work and coping under difficult circumstances, but married life challenged her and forced her to make enormous sacrifices, including choosing between being with her husband or with her children. For an obedient wife, there was only one conclusion. This involved exposing herself to extreme danger, and eventually caused her to lose her life.
This unusual and quirky book is written very much from a feminist standpoint, but also presents the hardships of the two earlier lives in a detailed and sympathetic way. It brings each of her subjects to life, making for interesting and thought-provoking reading. It will certainly help to pass the time during the long Autumn evenings!
Taking the Devil’s Advice by Anne Fine
Oliver is spending the summer with his ex-wife Constance and their children, with Constanceʼs new husband Ali, Aliʼs small son and the occasional,
and his success. As a human being he is a bit of a conundrum: not unlovable in his lighter moments but ruthless in his need for the mental and physical peace and space to pursue the thoughts which are his living and, seemingly, his life. He is one of those people who cannot understand why things that are ʻclear and simpleʼ to him should be such a problem to other people: “I was right in the middle of a perfectly adequate explanation of what subtraction is, and how it operates when Bonnie [his daughter] interposed herself between me and Ned. ʻDonʼt listen to himʼ, she said scornfully. ʻHe doesnʼt know. Iʼll tell you how to do it.ʼ . . . my peers repeatedly refer to me as one of the finest mathematical logicians alive. ʻItʼs no use just doing itʼ, I argued. ʻHe has to grasp the concept of place-value first. He has to understandʼ. ʻNo he doesnʼt,ʼ said Bonnie, ʻHe just has to do it.ʼ”
disruptive appearance of Aliʼs first wife. Oliver is ostensibly writing a paper for a conference but is also covertly writing the story of his marriage to
Constance and, naturally, hiding the ʻwork in progressʼ from her. She has, however, discovered its hiding place and Oliver regularly finds her
version of events added to his own, turning it into a brilliantly orchestrated slanging match.
Oliver learned at an early age to distance himself from what he calls the ʻemotional broilingsʼ of other peopleʼs lives. Constance is from the
Which, as any decent novel should, leaves you wondering where you stand on this type of argument - as usual when Anne Fine is the author - probably able to see both points of view and unable to come down firmly in complete agreement with either. This is a highly entertaining black comedy displaying Fineʼs ability to reveal character through dialogue and then subvert the assumptions she has set up as she weaves a multi-perspective narrative through a multi-stranded story and then provides a jaw-dropping denouement.
opposite end of the spectrum, people and their
needs, which to Oliver constitute interruptions to his thinking, are her priority and her joy. As the summer progresses so
does the conference paper, the ʻjointʼ biography and the shape of the various relationships within this extended family.
Oliver is a philosopher, a successful academic who loves both his job
Reviews brought to you by Oxfam Books & Music Stanley Court, Olney
Tel: 01234 714592
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The books reviewed above are from Oxfam Books and Music, Olney, which sells donated books, records, CDs, tapes and music to raise money for Oxfam’s work in combating poverty around the world.
MUSEUM MATTERS
‘SUGAR AND SPICE AND ALL THINGS NICE’
On October 27th the Cowper and Newton Museum will be commemorating Black History Month with interactive displays depicting the sugar and spice trades and slavery during the Georgian era. With costumed Georgians demonstrating
what life was like during the period, hands-on activities for kids and educational interactive displays, there will be plenty to see, hear and touch as you wander around the museum. Entrance to the Museum and Gardens is free to everyone under 18! Museum is open 10:30am – 4:00pm. For more information visit www. cowperandnewtonmuseum.org.uk.
Phonebox Magazine 69
Review by Thelma Shacklady
Review by Sandra Metcalf