August Book Group - The Feast by Margaret Kennedy
August's read is The Feast by Margaret Kennedy. For those in the northern hemisphere it's a good summer read as its set in a seaside hotel just after World War Two. This blog gives a good overview of the story, which I found hard to pin down to a particular category. Part allegory, part mystery story, part situation comedy, I found it an enjoyable read and am looking forward to re-reading it for the club this month.
Margaret Kennedy isn't much read now but her novel The Constant Nymph caused a fair bit of controversy in its day and was made in to at least one film.
As usual I'll post some questions on or around the 20th.
Margaret Kennedy isn't much read now but her novel The Constant Nymph caused a fair bit of controversy in its day and was made in to at least one film.
As usual I'll post some questions on or around the 20th.
Comments
I plan to reread the book before the discussion in light of knowing the ending and more about the structure of the book as explained in the foreword, but which I didn't pick up on during my first reading. It should be an interesting discussion at the end of the month.
1. I first heard of this book on the Shedunnit podcast which is mainly about Golden Age Detective Fiction. I think it would be a stretch to think of it as a detective novel, but does it have elements of a traditional crime novel?
2. The idea for the book grew out of an idea Kennedy and her friends had to write a series of short stories about the deadly sins. In this book seven characters each embody one of the sins. Did you notice that and if you did, did it get in the way of the story. Did it work as a concept?
3. The story is set shortly after World War II, and the aftermath of that conflict is still being felt, as are the policies of the new, radical Labour government. Did you enjoy reading contemporaneous views of that time. If you've read other books from the era how did this one compare?
4. Were there any characters you were particularly rooting for, or particularly disliked?
5. Did you think about what would happen to the survivors next, and if you did what would you like to happen to them?
6. Anything else you'd like to add?
1. I first heard of this book on the Shedunnit podcast which is mainly about Golden Age Detective Fiction. I think it would be a stretch to think of it as a detective novel, but does it have elements of a traditional crime novel?
Many of the characters would make good classic murder victims, with a number of people having good motives to do away with them due to their awful behaviours and plans to change wills etc. There was also the mystery as to who was not going to survive the disaster. We knew it was coming, but not who survived. I did not read the introduction and was not sure if some of the nicer characters would be killed off, but satisfyingly they all had happy endings.
2. The idea for the book grew out of an idea Kennedy and her friends had to write a series of short stories about the deadly sins. In this book seven characters each embody one of the sins. Did you notice that and if you did, did it get in the way of the story. Did it work as a concept?
I didn't notice the seven deadly sins on the first read and was only aware after I read the introduction after finishing the book. Perhaps because I have never gone to churches where the seven deadly sins were a belief and would struggle to list all seven. I enjoyed rereading the book knowing which sin each unlikable character represented and that all the characters I liked survived.
3. The story is set shortly after World War II, and the aftermath of that conflict is still being felt, as are the policies of the new, radical Labour government. Did you enjoy reading contemporaneous views of that time. If you've read other books from the era how did this one compare?
I have read a book that collated diary entries from British people after WW2 and they tended to worry about food rations, and when they would end, but didn't seem to worry about politics or economic issues, at least in their diaries.
4. Were there any characters you were particularly rooting for, or particularly disliked?
The author certainly made some characters more likeable than others. I didn't want any children to die and Gerry, Evangeline, Mrs. Paley, Nancibel and Fred were adults I particularly wanted to survive. I was glad Mrs. Siddal survived at the last minute, despite her poor treatment of Gerry. I particularly disliked Mrs. Cove and Canon Wraxton. Mr. Siddal had some redeeming points and seemed he might change at the last minute, but he was very neglectful and unfairly reliant on his family and caused the whole disaster by not wanting to open his letters or let his family do his admin for him. Anna was also an awful woman. Exploiting young men was bad enough, but kidnapping Hebe and knowingly leaving her near a child predator really sealed my dislike of her. I also thought Bruce was lucky to get away. He may have decided to get a real job, but he had still stolen a car and killed a cyclist and never taken responsibility or planned to do so.
5. Did you think about what would happen to the survivors next, and if you did what would you like to happen to them?
I did wonder what would happen next. I assume the best for them, but more challenges ahead.
Gerry and Evangeline would inherit Canon Wraxton's estate since he never had the chance to change his will and hopefully could help out the other surviving Siddal members. Mrs. Siddal had come around to the idea of their marriage by the end.
Mrs. Paley could hopefully adopt the Cove children and they also conveniently had an inheritance and would now be treated with love.
I wasn't sure if Hebe would still be sent to school, as maybe that would benefit her, but with her mother's death she would not be unfairly estranged from her adopted family. I do worry she would have further trauma and challenges in the future, however. Her father would certainly be happier as his wife's death solved a few of his problems, though he might have some survivor's guilt.
I don't think Bruce deserved Nancibel and hoped she found somebody better or enjoyed life as a single woman. It seemed she was planning to get a job elsewhere after the summer and hopefully someone local gave Fred a new job.
6. Anything else you'd like to add?
I really enjoyed the book and it was quite satisfying that all the awful characters were crushed at the end, removing many of the nice characters' problems. Perhaps it is sinful of me to think it was a really happy ending, but I have had some life stresses lately and it was a good time to read a book where everyone got what they deserved!
1. I first heard of this book on the Shedunnit podcast which is mainly about Golden Age Detective Fiction. I think it would be a stretch to think of it as a detective novel, but does it have elements of a traditional crime novel?
It certainly has some elements, the wondering who the victim(s) will be for instance. Unlike a traditional crime novel they all meet their doom at the end of the novel rather than at least one of them being killed off near the beginning.
2. The idea for the book grew out of an idea Kennedy and her friends had to write a series of short stories about the deadly sins. In this book seven characters each embody one of the sins. Did you notice that and if you did, did it get in the way of the story. Did it work as a concept?
It wasn't till I listened to the podcast that I twigged about seven characters embodying the seven deadly sins but on a re-read it is fairly obvious though some were more obvious than others. Canon Wraxton for instance.
3. The story is set shortly after World War II, and the aftermath of that conflict is still being felt, as are the policies of the new, radical Labour government. Did you enjoy reading contemporaneous views of that time. If you've read other books from the era how did this one compare?
I was born in 1953 at about the time rationing finally finished. I also grew up in a left-wing family so the post-war Labour government was seen as a very good thing. I also remember Manny Shinwell appearing on the Michael Parkinson chat show in the 1960s and finding him really interesting. Seeing the era from those with slightly different views was really interesting.
4. Were there any characters you were particularly rooting for, or particularly disliked?
I fell rather in love with Nanciebel and `I also liked Mrs Paley. The fact that she was influenced by Mr Siddal's arguments to turn her own tragedy to good when he was just arguing for the sake of it was interesting. I rather disliked Mrs Siddal and thought she was being very unfair to Gerry and could have have really taken charge when she realised her husband had totally opted out of life. I was a bit sad that Mr Siddal didn't make the effort to go to the feast. He seemed to be redeemable.
5. Did you think about what would happen to the survivors next, and if you did what would you like to happen to them?
I too hoped Mrs Paley would adopt the Coves. She seemed to vaguely know their relatives and I'm sure something could be sorted. I assumed Sir Henry would send his children to good boarding schools and employ staff to look after them. I can imagine Hebe becoming a leading light of the swinging sixties. Gerry and Angie would go to Kenya and money would be found for his brothers to go to college. I could imagine Nanciebel finding Bruce and making him go to the police. She would then stick by him and turn him into a much better person, but I'd rather Sir Henry took her on to look after his children and she found a much more worthy young man. The fact that Bruce thought she was unintelligent as she wasn't well educated was very annoying when she was obviously much brighter than him. Fred would get a good job in one of the better local hotels.
6. Anything else you'd like to add?
I found Mr Siddal's idea that the human race is only preserved because of its innocent minority interesting. I was at a funeral the other day and spent a lot of time contemplating the statue of Christus Rex high in the nave of Southwell Minster that seemed to embody that idea.