Sunday, June 10, 2012

One Fine Day - Mollie Panter-Downes

This is the second time I've read 'One Fine Day' and the second time I've been underwhelmed by it which disappoints me because I want to love it. It's a book that seems to be universally admired by my reading peers, compared favourably to Virginia Woolf's 'Mrs Dalloway', it even makes Simon's list of 50 Books You Must Read But May Not Have Heard About, all of which makes me feel like I've failed where others have succeeded.

The book follows a day in the life of the Marshall family, mostly from the point of view of Laura Marshall. It's 1946, her husband (Stephen) has returned safe from the war to find that they may be losing the peace. War has aged Laura beyond her 38 years, and turned their daughter, Victoria, from a scrubbed infant in her blue dressing gown with a rabbit on the pocket, into a scruffy and distant adolescent. The staff that made the Marshall's house so pleasant a place to be are all dead and gone, keeping it up is a war of attrition that neither Laura or Stephen are quite up to but nether the less they continue to try.

Truthfully I prefer books that are rather more plot driven than this one though. The writing is beautiful and should another opportunity present itself I might try and read it through in one sitting; I find with books like this that I enjoy them whilst I'm reading but the moment I put it down it becomes an effort to pick up again without that imperative need to find out what happens next regardless of the quality of the prose. I'm also ambivalent about Laura - she is a hopelessly vague dreamer; she leaves the larder door open so that the cat steals the fish, her cakes sink or burn, her milk pans boil over, and she's responsible or the most appalling phone bills. It's meant to be endearing, admirable even, but I find it frustrating that after so many years of war she hasn't adapted a little more.

I empathise with the feeling of being imprisoned by a convention which insists one eats in some state in a dining room, and which won't allow Laura and Stephen to settle comfortably in the Kitchen for their supper, but am impatient with a woman who's a fool about money because it's considered non - U for women of her class to understand it. Otherwise the meditation on what absence does to a marriage is both subtle and moving, as is the relationship between Victoria and her parents. She's growing up at home in the world she finds around her and relatively free of the social nuances that mean so much to the older generation - her generation will indeed win the peace.

It's an interesting book, and I will say again - beautifully written, very many readers whose taste and opinions I trust adore it, and it may be in a different mood and place I'll adore it too but for now I'm just not sure.





 

 

8 comments:

  1. What a shame, Hayley - it was my second read which made me love it. Never mind, can't win them all - I'm currently being bored to tears by The Corner That Held Them by Sylvia Townsend Warner, which many people love.

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  2. After your review I had high hopes. At least I can pinpoint why I don't care for it - the same reason you love it - Laura, and I do believe I might yet see the light. It's certainly an interesting read and the quality of writing is undeniable. I think you're right too when you say this is where middlebrow and modernism meet. Oddly the last chapters with Victoria and Stephen went a long way to rescuing the book for me and I would have liked more of them - I'm resolutely middle brow it seems.

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  3. I haven't read this one and now really want to Hayley to see how I feel about Laura. I know how difficult it is when you feel you should love a book. I can admire I Capture the Castle, but it'll never be a favourite of mine because I don't like Cassandra or perhaps I was too old reading it the first time? Have you read The Village by Laski yet - that must be set about the same time as this, and that's one I love.

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    1. I had an 'I capture the Castle' moment yesterday at Kirby Muxloe which is both ruinius and moated - it's a book I like but was a bit to old for when I first read it so didn't love it either. I haven't read 'The Village' but have read 'Housebound' which deals with similar domestic territory.

      Do read 'One Fine Day', I'm in a deffinate minority and even I can appreciate the quality of the writing...

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  4. I have never read this and missed Simon's review, so am curious to do so now, if I can ever find a copy. I find it's not always necessary to like a character to enjoy a novel, but sometimes it is, especially when you feel the writer is pushing you to like the person but you just don't. I think you're very open-minded to be considering reading it for a third time!

    Have you read 'The New House' by Lettice Cooper? It's another Woolfy all-in-one day novel from 1936 (reprinted by Persephone), during which a family moves to a smaller house. I love it and plan to style myself on old Mrs Powell in later life.

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    1. It's absolutly worth reading if you can find a copy - they are about so I'll keep an eye out for one for you. I do like a book that makes me think and I've certainly put some thought into this one so it isn't all bad. I think my problem is that there's something in the tone that jars with me at the moment. That always makes me picky about little things and after that it's all a bit of a struggle.

      I have read, and loved, 'The New House' and also 'A House in the Country' and 'Housebound' - all Persephone, all dealing with a similar theme and I know 'One Fine Day' is a book dear to Nicola Beauman's heart. I feel so alone ;)

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  5. I liked her wartime stories. I wonder if I will like this one. The topics sounds good to me and I don't need lots of plot. Like you, however, I do get annoyed by people who can't managed their money. Especially if it is just to keep up appearances. That is why I struggle with the Provincial Lady. It is kind of funny your "negative" review has me more interested to read something than most "positive" reviews.

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    1. It's an odd thing but I find when I'm negative about a book that generally happens. I don't mind keeping up appearences but have no sympathy for a general idea that it's vulger to be able to understand what your means are and how to live within them. On the plus side there are some exquisite descriptions and observations and it's worth seeking a copy out if you don't already have one.

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