Reviews

The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer

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kimmulholland's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bookswithlukas's review against another edition

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3.0

“I will try. I will honestly try to be honest with you.”

It’s interesting that I should choose to read ‘The Pumpkin Eater’ so soon after Sylvia Plath’s ‘The Bell Jar’, since they both deal so explicitly with the theme of depression in women of the 1960’s, and are both well known for being semi-autobiographical works.

Beating ‘Bell Jar’ to publication by just one year, ‘Pumpkin Eater’ tells the story of Mrs Armitage (known only by her married name) as she experiences issues during her fourth marriage, and feels troubled by her desire to have another child when her new husband clearly does not. Echoing the authors real life marriage (her third) to John Mortimer, (an infamously bad husband who got another another woman pregnant during their marriage), the novel has all the weight of a relationship drama with all the added vouyeristic tendencies of a gossip blog, as you can dissect exactly what Mortimer was feeling and going through during her husband’s betrayal just from reading the text.

Outside of the main theme though, there’s not too much here to compare with the more instantly recognisable ‘Bell Jar’. The main character is succinctly different in many ways, more a housewife and homemaker, which Mortimer uses to explore the themes of depression in relation to the complexities of marriage and family for a woman in the 1950’s. Mortimer’s dialogue shines light on this topic and the characters downward spiral while also managing to hold the slightest edge of humour (albeit of the bleak variety) in a novel that for me, works ever so slightly better than the aforementioned ‘Bell Jar’.

Overall, it’s certainly not without its problems, and it can meander a little bit for a novel under 150 pages. If, however, you like ‘The Bell Jar’ - I’d recommend giving this teeny tiny novel a go, as it certainly deserves more of an audience.

kylewilkinson's review against another edition

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3.0

Written in 1962 and semi-autobiographical, I have to give The Pumpkin Eater credit for a few things. It provides a pretty unique insight into the complexities of mental illness, marriage and the desire to find oneself. The protagonist Mrs. Armitage finds herself drifting through three marriages and an abundance of children before discovering her life has been enraptured by boredom and frustration, being slowly stifled by domesticity and colluding (sometimes quite happily, sometimes feeling she has no choice) in her own oppression. A affecting scene in Harrods where she has a nervous breakdown illustrates this perfectly.

However the book meanders and the last section of the book isn't as tightly written. It made me wish that Mortimer could have achieved the richness of a narrative like Mrs Bridge a book where it felt Connell perfectly captured what he was trying to say within 117 short vignettes. Apart from a few well done passages The Pumpkin Eater didn't have the emotional impact for me unfortunately.