Miss Garnet's Angel

During discussions in the FutureLearn How to Read a Novel course, a number of students recommended Miss Garnet's Angel by Sally Vickers as worth reading.

Miss Garnet, a retired history teacher, had planned to do some travelling with Harriet, with whom she shared a house in Ealing. When Harriet unexpectedly died Miss Garnet decided that she would travel to Venice where she planned to spend six months. This proved to be a life changing experience. Miss Garnet was not interested in religion but soon became fascinated with some of the sculptures and paintings of religious figures, particularly those featuring the angel, Raphael.

As we follow the changes to Miss Garnet's life as she makes friends, gains confidence, learns more about herself, explores Venice (often on foot), and generally falls under the spell of her new environment we also learn about, in a parallel story, the journey of discovery of Tobias at the time of the Assyrians. Aspects of this story also appear in some of the Venice churches and works of art.

This is a story of relationships, re-evaluation of life, history, art, religion - learning to adapt to a new lifestyle in a new environment.

The Librarian

Recently I read a short review in The Age newspaper about this book so, as a librarian, I decided to reserve a copy of The Librarian by Sally Vickers from the library.

I worked as a children's librarian in the late 1960s so as the main character in this book, Sylvia Blackwell, began her career in a children's library in the late 1950s  I was immediately interested in the story. Fortunately the library service where I worked provided a very different service compared to the challenges faced by Sylvia, however I related to her desire to provide a friendly, welcoming space for children where they could choose the books they wanted to read. Unfortunately Sylvia's manager and some members of the library committee do not agree with her plans.

The book also provides a study of relationships and often prejudices in a small English community. Of course romance is a central theme for part of the novel but this is just part of the study of the relationships in this novel.

Throughout the novel the importance of the enjoyment of reading from a young age as well as the necessity of having libraries for all to enjoy is a major theme. This includes references to titles of children's books that I read and recommended to children all those years ago and hope that my grandchildren may also enjoy reading. A list of books mentioned is provided at the back of the book.
Part 2 of the book is short and is set in present times where the author provides an update on some of the characters we met in part one of the book. She also makes reference to the move in some areas of England to close libraries or, in some cases, staff libraries with volunteers instead of librarians.

Throughout the book the author has captured aspects of life in England during the 1950s. This is the second book that I have read by Sally Vickers and I will look for other books by her to read.


The local library helped me to become a novelist - letter to The Guardian by Sally Vickers (2 February 2017)
Why libraries matter - Irish Times (2 May 2018)
Libraries lose a quarter of staff as hundreds close - BBC News (29 March 2016)

Instances of the Number 3

When working on the FutureLearn course on Hans Christian Andersen recently we were asked to consider the author's use of numbers in many of his stories, particularly the numbers 3 and 7. In the discussion on the forum this book by English novelist, Salley Vickers, was mentioned so I decided to borrow it from the library.

Peter Hansome is married to Bridget but also has a mistress, Frances. Both of the women know about the existence of the other but are not aware that Peter is on his way to visit another woman when he dies in a car accident. The book explores the lives of Bridget and Frances as they form a friendship of sorts after Peter's death. It looks at relationships and love and has as a major theme the need to know and understand oneself. Bridget loves the plays of Shakespeare and the poetry of John Donne and quotes from their writings appear throughout the novel. Frances works in a gallery and there are also references to art. The story primarily revolves around incidents during the first year after Peter's death but there are also descriptions of events that occurred before he died. Other characters appearing in the lives of the two women are Zahin -a friend of Peter's, Painter - a friend of Frances, Mickey - Bridget's neighbour and Stan - a friend of Bridget. Throughout the book there are discussions on religion (unknown to his wife, Peter had converted to Catholicism) and forgiveness. From time to time Peter's ghost appears observing the lives of the people he loved as they continue living without him.

This is a book that I wanted to continue to read. Although I worked out part of the plot before the outcome was revealed, it did not detract from my wanting to read the book to the end. I shall certainly look out for more books by Salley Vickers.

The cover of the edition of the book I read showed the Three Graces - part of the painting La Primavera by Botticelli.