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summersand 's review for:
The Constant Nymph
by Margaret Kennedy
This is a novel that will elicit complex reactions.
It's engaging and enjoyable while simultaneously being cringe-worthy and irritating. In some ways it has aged well, yet the ways in which it is dated are deplorable.
The blithe attitude towards what would now be considered grooming/ephebophilia and the ambivalent but casual anti-semitism have been mentioned in other reviews, so I'll simply agree that it's hard to gloss over them.
Apart from these, the thing which most annoyed me from the middle to the end of the narrative is that the author clearly wants readers to blame or laud the women for their upbringing as though they had any say in it. Florence is as much a product of her environment as Tessa is. I found the contrast Charles sees between his daughter and his niece rather traitorous and hypocritical. Portraying the battle between the 'bohemian' and 'civilized' in this way is facile and unsatisfying.
Considering how willing Kennedy is to quietly demystify some of the glamour surrounding so-called Great Men, I rather wish she had gone further. Also, the ending is melodramatic, and you can see it coming a mile away.
Ultimately, though Kennedy has some interesting insights, there's something uneven about her development of the characters and the plot.
It's engaging and enjoyable while simultaneously being cringe-worthy and irritating. In some ways it has aged well, yet the ways in which it is dated are deplorable.
The blithe attitude towards what would now be considered grooming/ephebophilia and the ambivalent but casual anti-semitism have been mentioned in other reviews, so I'll simply agree that it's hard to gloss over them.
Apart from these, the thing which most annoyed me from the middle to the end of the narrative is that the author clearly wants readers to blame or laud the women for their upbringing as though they had any say in it. Florence is as much a product of her environment as Tessa is. I found the contrast Charles sees between his daughter and his niece rather traitorous and hypocritical. Portraying the battle between the 'bohemian' and 'civilized' in this way is facile and unsatisfying.
Considering how willing Kennedy is to quietly demystify some of the glamour surrounding so-called Great Men, I rather wish she had gone further. Also, the ending is melodramatic, and you can see it coming a mile away.
Ultimately, though Kennedy has some interesting insights, there's something uneven about her development of the characters and the plot.