Thalia

This is one of those coming of age novels that lingers in the mind long after you have finished reading. Totally different from A Chelsea Concerto, my other experience of Faviell’s writing, I can only say that this is never a boring read, as dramatic action is never far away. Furrowed Middlebrow and Dean Street Press have found another winner! This book was one of the first set of their books to be produced, so has been available for some time in this reprinted version, an excellent outcome for anyone who had been searching for a copy.This book is mostly set in a small resort in France, among an expat English community. It is summed up in the Introduction as “based on her own (Faviell’s) experience in France before the war when she was acting as a chaperone to a young teenager for the summer”. That sounds a little pedestrian, but this first person narrative is full of the passion of first love, searching for a career, and the confusion of what makes the contradictory people around her tick. Rachel has already angered her aunt and her father is absent, so she is exiled from her studies at the Slade school of Art and sent to France. She is open to impressions from older men, pressures from the family she is living with, as well as a background of religious festivals and faith.The strongest force in the book is undoubtedly Thalia, as her unpredictable actions and growing devotion to Rachel colours everything. As Rachel finds love there is subtle sabotage; Thalia’s own fractured relationship with her mother makes her a jealous soul to deal with for an uncertain chaperone. Thalia is obsessed with her absent father and there are worrying reports of her childhood in India. Added to the normal, for many girls, resentment of a mother whose own beauty is on the wane, Thalia is a complex character. When Rachel makes a break for it, she cannot foresee what will bring her back, and what will happen to a girl who is outwardly plain, but can reflect great beauty of her own. This is a novel of the time when outward feminine beauty meant so much, and its valuation by others had such effect on lives. So any feminism is subtle, and of a different quality from what we would expect from a contemporary novel, but this book is dominated by female characters. The male characters are all heavily criticised, seen as predictably weak, spoilt or lacking in some ways. Even those who try to help Rachel and Thalia are limited in some ways.I enjoyed this book, despite the fact that I read it over a long period of time on ebook. It is not great literature, and can take some melodramatic turns, but that perhaps is a result of the perceived nature of teenagers whose views are seen as so dramatic. As a book about young women trying to find their way in the world in difficult circumstances it is worthy book, and an interesting view of experience.

Beautifully written, brilliantly observed, this is a gem of a book. The characterisation is particularly well done for the women. Thalia is an intense, highly sensitive girl who feels unloved by her mother who laments how unattractive she is, especially compared to her younger brother. She develops a crush on her young companion, Rachel, and can't bear it when Rachel falls in love.The setting is as wild and untamed as Thalia's emotions, with the sea an integral part of the story.I very much enjoyed reading the social observations, with the restrictive rules and regulations that both girls railed against. It's very much a book of its time, but its themes are ever-present.

Faviell is a master of characterisation, and this book draws several fine portraits of women and the effects of love, desire, duty and happiness. With the Wallace Simpson affair as a backdrop, a young art student is forced to examine the price of love and the costs of marriage. I was a bit nervous about buying this book seeing the rather odd one-star review, but I found the book to be a compelling read dealing with a subject that never becomes dated in a way that feels as relevant today as it would in the 1930s or 50s.

Unusual story line. Life in a more innocent age but with plenty of drama. Really enjoyed reading this. Will look for more from this author

Good read