Grand Days

Edith Trilogy #1

by Frank Moorhouse

On a train from Paris to Geneva, Edith Campbell Berry meets Major Ambrose Westwood in the dining car, makes his acquaintance over a lunch of six courses, and allows him to kiss her passionately. Their early intimacy binds them together once they reach Geneva and their posts at the newly created League of Nations. There, a heady idealism prevails over Edith and her young colleagues, and nothing seems beyond their grasp, certainly not world peace. The exuberance of the times carries over into Geneva nights: Edith is drawn into a dark and glamorous underworld where, coaxed by Ambrose, she becomes more and more sexually adventurous. Reading Grand Days is a rare experience: it is vivid and wise, full of shocks of recognition and revelation. The final effect of the book is intoxicating and unplaceably original.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Australia, Historical, Literary Fiction, 20th Century, Literature

718 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Frank Thomas Moorhouse AM (21 December 1938 – 26 June 2022) was an Australian writer. He won major Australian national prizes for the short story, the novel, the essay, and for script writing. His work has been published in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States and also translated into German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Serbian, and Swedish.

Moorhouse was perhaps best known for winning the 2001 Miles Franklin Literary Award for his novel, Dark Palace; which together with Grand Days and Cold Light, the "Edith Trilogy" is a fictional account of the League of Nations, which trace the strange, convoluted life of a young woman who enters the world of diplomacy in the 1920s through to her involvement in the newly formed International Atomic Energy Agency after World War II.

The author of 18 books, Moorhouse became a full-time fiction writer during the 1970s, also writing essays, short stories, journalism and film, radio and TV scripts.

In his early career he developed a narrative structure which he has described as the 'discontinuous narrative'. He lived for many years in Balmain, where together with Clive James, Germaine Greer and Robert Hughes, he became part of the "Sydney Push" - an anti-censorship movement that protested against rightwing politics and championed freedom of speech and sexual liberation. In 1975 he played a fundamental role in the evolution of copyright law in Australia in the case University of New South Wales v Moorhouse. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Jane Messer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've come to this novel, the first of the trilogy long after it was first published. It's a commitment, it is a long book, but well worth the time you will spend in its world.

Edith Campbell Berry is an intriguing mix of zealot, innocent, accidental vamp and serious young woman deeply committed to world peace in the years leading to the Second World War when no one had any idea that that war was going to come. Much of the novel's undercurrent is concerned with manners, rituals and diplomacy - in the bedroom, between friends, and between nations. Someone from the Guardian described the novel as being not of its time, but in a good way.

Yes, it's unique and deeply interesting because of that. Moorehouse is as usual a virtuoso as a stylist. He does indeed 'reveal while veiling'.

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uggh. This book dragged. I should have given up on it each time I thought I should, but I kept reading in the hopes it may get better. It didn't. By the end the only character I even sort of liked had been sacrificed and there was nothing left to hold my interest. I finished the book, only to say I had. I will definitely not be searching out the remaining books in the trilogy.

Overall, it was too long, too wandering, too vague, and had much too much sex. I had hoped there would be more on the background of the League of Nations, a subject about which I know very little (I've found that in history, if the US wasn't involved, it really gets glossed over in schools and history textbooks), but in the end it was just a whiney idealist woman coming up against a world that does not share her ideals. And in the end, like most idealist people, she had to compromise her ideals.

There was nothing really to recommend this book other than the interesting cover photo. Do yourself a favor and skip it. It's not worth the time.

[Vivien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Club reading for April / May Grand Days, by Frank Moorhouse seemed to me to be a huge task and having not read any Frank Moorhouse books before I approached the task with some trepidation - 718 pages! The original book was 1st published in 1993 and this edition 2011.

The main character, Edith Campbell Berry, is an is an idealistic young Australia joining the diplomatic corp in Europe following World War 1. On a train from Paris to Geneva, Edith Campbell Berry meets Major Ambrose Westwood in the dining car, and allows him to kiss her passionately. Their early intimacy binds them together once they reach Geneva and their posts at the newly created League of Nations. There, a heady idealism prevails over Edith and her young colleagues, and nothing seems beyond their grasp, certainly not world peace. The exuberance of the times carries over into Geneva nights: Edith is drawn into a glamorous and dangerous underworld where, coaxed by Ambrose, she becomes more and more sexually adventurous.

At times the book highlights the amazing and dazzling aspects of a bygone era. It is logical, amusing, with detailed descriptions of personalities, places, time sequences, clothing, meals and events. Meticulous research combined with numerous shocks of revelation regarding political, world, local events combine with intimate human interactions to permeate Grand Days. Edith's journey and progress thru the ranks at the League is impressive and in the final pages her upcoming marriage to Robert Hope, the journalist, the intricate debating on birth control at different levels and across many at the League leaves me with a sense there is more to come, so maybe it is a project to read thru the trilogy in goodness of time.

Quote: p464. Yes conversation and the conduct of conversation was the pivotal part of all civilised life. Conversation has ultimately to do with politics. Edith believed that the League of Nations would bring a new way of people talking to each other.

Contents - 22 chapters, postscript and comprehensive historical notes and an organisational chart for the League of Nations, 1930. So many interesting details such as the Importance of the Duplicating Machine in the 1920's by the League - imagine copying 1 million pieces of paper per year and by end of the 1920's had duplicated more than 10 million sheets of paper! We think we've had a copying issue at schools in the 1990's - 20111!

Frank Thomas Moorhouse was born in Nowra, New South Wales, Australia, to a father of British ethnicity and a mother who was a third-generation Australian of British convict descent. His father was an inventor of agricultural machinery and together with his wife established a factory in Nowra to manufacture machinery for the dairying industry. Moorhouse was a constant reader from an early age and decided to be a writer after reading Alice in Wonderland while bed-ridden for months from a serious accident at the age 12 -- "After experiencing the magic of this book I wanted to be the magician who made the magic".

Throughout his life I found it interesting that he is reported frequently about going alone on eight-day, map-and-compass, off-trail treks into wilderness areas. He is also a gourmand. He once said that he was a member of a think tank called Wining and Dining. Both these aspects of his personality feature in Grand Days.

Well I've completed Grand Days and I'm both pleased and relieved that I have! Yes I did enjoy the journey w Emily, learning more about this era, the League of Nations and marvelling with / at all the characters associated with the League's operations in Geneva.

[Mary-lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to read this book because it is a favourite of the political journalist Annabel Crab and I am a fan of her so even though this is an historical fiction novel I decided to give it a go. It was fantastic and just like Annabel Crab I too would like to be tha main protagonist, Edith Campbell Berry. I loved the fact that this was an historical novel that had some historical 'facts' at the end and a list of the characters and who was REAL and who was imaginary. Well done Frank Moorhouse! Whenever I read any novel I am always aware of the author behind the story, maybe because I am an artist and realise how much of myself is in everything I create, and I was often aware of Moorhouse but not in a distracting way, more like we were both voyeurs. There were only one or two times that I thought Edith acted in a way that I think would not be how generally women would act but just because I am a woman I don't think I would really know any more than Moorhouse would in this regard. ( I am already starting to overanalyse the way Edith would!)
I am fascinated now about the League of Nations. I knew nothing about it before and now I just think what a wonderful time. What a wonderful world. I will definitely read the next two books in the series.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big saga of a book, about Edith, an idealistic young Australian woman making her way in the League of Nations in Geneva. At 650+ pages, there's a lot of story there, as Edith grows and develops, and learns more about life, the world and also about sexuality.

Although Edith is pretty much a fictional character, many actual historical people fill the pages of the book in varying secondary character roles. At that period after WWI, many believed that world peace was achievable and that the League of Nations was the organisation to lead the process. Sadly of course, human nature and history took their seemingly inevitable course. At the end of WWII, the League was scrapped, although it was partly subsumed into the then new United Nations.

But the book is set in the 'grand days' when idealists such as Edith put all of their life efforts towards that noble goal of world peace. Her story is full of her clever, determined, and at times self-deprecating or uncertain thoughts and actions. Occasionally she is misguided, but seen in the context of the times, it rings true. There are funny, even absurd moments, and also moving and sad moments. Ambrose's breakdown in particular was difficult to read about, and the reader is left wondering what 'happens' to this character, and whether he would ever recover from his illness.

From the first page, the writing style is fresh and original. It did not take long to adjust to the style, and soon become engrossed in Edith's world. Overall, an engaging and involving read, set in a fascinating period of history.

[Francene Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a thick book and I got through it fast, meaning that there must have been something about it that compelled me to keep reading, but I can't quite put my finger on what this was. I'm giving it 3 stars for the fact that I didn't have to force myself to read it.

Before I go any further though I have to get this off my chest: Edith Campbell Berry is annoying.

As a young Australian woman embarking on a new life in Geneva with the League of Nations, her story is an interesting one and Moorhouse captures her excitement, naivete and the mood of the times well. However her airy-fairy ideas about what is needed to bring about world peace combined with her preoccupation with trivial things like table settings and the endlessly fascinating subject of stationary holders, didn't allow me to develop much sympathy for her. Some of the choices she makes are just plain stupid. There's no real middle ground with this character. Despite living and breathing global politics every day she doesn't spend much time or energy contemplating the actual causes of the conflicts that lead to war, instead holding the simplistic view that negotiations can overcome all problems. Most of her energy is reserved for compulsively analysing her own thoughts, feelings and relationships. Is Moorhouse trying to convey the unrealistic approach of the League of Nations itself through her character?

One of the blurbs I read before picking up the book said that Edith and her colleagues must try to keep the faith that the League can achieve something even as the clouds of war begin to gather over Europe, but there are actually very few hints about what's to come. That's probably what I found most disappointing about this book, it's lack of a serious political context. The "great" minds at the League, as portrayed in the book, can't even work out what to do when two tenders for furniture come back with identical bids. It takes Edith, with her colonial street-smarts to step up to the plate and suggest that they get them to bid again at a lower price. This contribution is described as "ingenious" and Sir Eric still speaks about it YEARS later. Really? And what's with the creepy shaving scene with Edith and Sir Eric and the unspoken bond they share afterwards which compels Edith to seek his approval for her use of birth control under the guise of fighting to have the issue of reproductive rights for women be acknowledged in the League? That's the problem with Edith, everything ends up being about her.

The fact that the last section is focused on the issue of birth control seemed a bit weird. Edith's decision to accept Robert Dole's marriage proposal on their first date just reinforces that she's the "daft" one, not Ambrose. Her relationship with Ambrose is in fact the only really interesting thing about her. The scene at The Molly Club where they are attacked by right-wing thugs was the most (only?) compelling one in the book for me. Despite my misgivings about this book I will read the next one in the trilogy just to see if Edith grows up a bit and finally develops some sense.

[Patrick Lenton · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Grand Days' is one of my favourite books in the world. The protagonist, Edith is this wonderful character and I found myself able to live inside her head quite comfortably. The fact that it's all set around the creation of The League of Nations is fascinating in itself, and the touches of authenticity that Moorhouse provides - jargon, drinks popular at the time, social mores, all help flesh out the feeling of a momentous time and place in history.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a story about the early days of the League of Nations (the precursor to the United Nations. It is told from the perspective of a young Australian woman, Edith Berry. In a train ride to Geneva she meets a man from the League of Nations named Ambrose and starts an affair that was to last her early days in the League.

This was not quite what I expected given the cover. I did like the character of Edith and I thought they explored Ambrose's sexual orientation respectfully. It is a hefty read at 700 pages but it is interesting and is humourous in places.

[Madeleine Coorey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this book when it first came out - in 1993 - and loved it. I was curious to see whether it held up. It does - particularly the start.
But what seems remarkable to me now is that Edith is so naive really, and wrapped up in personal rules she completely ignores. She is so serious about being a public servant but thinks nothing of forging letters.
In my memory I liked her. Now I cannot see why as she is so self centred - and towards the end racist. Yikes!
It’s still clever though and it takes you to another place and time. Moorhouse’s ability to write from the perspective of a woman of her time still feels bang on.
Will read again. In 2057.

[Jeremy Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. Of historical interest. But a bit of a slog at times.

[Ros Gaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this hard work, self-indulgent and uninspiring. I enjoyed the lead character but had little patience with her male colleagues! A depressing read.

[Jacinta · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s such a long book but it captures the moment so well (I imagine) and really immerses you in Edith’s mind. She has many quirks, but they endear you to her. A good read for an IR nerd like me :)

[Calzean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable - long but easy to read.
Edith Berry is a mid 20 year old Australian woman who comes to work at the League of Nations. She is a firm believer of the League but being naive finds her initial days a series of embarrassments. She soon finds herself and is recognised as someone who gets things done.
She also discovers her sexuality and for a book that has the workings of the League's secretariat, it has an interesting mix of the exotic and the mundane.
An interesting look at the League of Nations, how it struggled to find acceptance and how small it was with most people knowing each other.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful surprise. Moorhouse has created a great character and evoked the spririt of the era with panache. Both Edith's strengths and faults invite the reader to consider their own development of the self. I'm sorry I didn't read this when it was first published. Will definitely read the other books in the series. I seem to have fallen into an era with my reading of late. This is the fourth book this year dealing with the period 'between the wars' and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

[Rob Carseldine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the character of Edith Campbell-Berry and Frank Moorhouse's writing. He writes characters not so much plots. It seems to me that the plot is there to support the characters. It also covers a part of history (The League of Nations era) that I had not read about previously. This is a long book and I could understand some readers finding it slow going. However, if you like great writing and strong characters this is a gem.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's taken me a while to get to this, but now I can't wait to finish the Edith trilogy. I have such respect for Frank Moorhouse - the writing is wonderfully lucid, the characters indelible and the background events both fascinating and little discussed today, despite their relevance to - just about everything.

[Claire Baxter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a weird book. I came across it during a university course about the League of Nations and had it on my To-Read list since then. From that point of view it is kind of interesting. When it comes to the main character, Edith, and her thoughts, motivations and desires, it is clearly written by a man, which was frustrating at times.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+ stars. I enjoyed bits of this book enormously, I was even compelled to read parts to my partner. At other times Edith could become quite irritating.
I also couldn't help but read her as a metaphor for Australia emerging onto the international scene. I will be reading the other two books.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why is it that Moorhouse can write a convincing sex scene from a female point of view, yet can't write a believable American? Are Americans really that mysterious?

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read more than half of this 600 page tome, hoping it would improve. I just got to where I was hoping it would go.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was some time before I fully grasped what this book was about: a fictionalised history of the League of Nations as seen through the eyes of Edith Campbell Berry a young Australian woman starting out in the League of Nations. The opening chapter is misleading, the writing too cute with capitalised Meaningful Words like “Ways of Going” which just came over as facetiously pretentious. Then there were her antics with transvestite Ambrose who was her lover for a year or so. A real turner of unread pages. Then I realised this was a deeply researched history of the League of Nations and a long list of real life characters among Edith, Ambrose and other fictional ones. I think Moorhouse really showed lack of judgment here. He also goes into immense detail in often inconsequential conversations, and in the Thoughts going through Edith’s head as she dwells long and hard about what Dame Rachel, or whoever, might be reacting to what Edith has just said and what she should have said. Maybe. Or maybe not. The book is incredibly well researched but I think Moorhouse is having it both ways. A bit of bawdy fun, and a serious documentary about an important institution. To me it doesn’t work that way. I’d prefer to do without the facetiousness and just get on with Edith’s story without the giggly bits. I’m surprised at Moorhouse. Yes, I know it‘s regarded highly in literary circles, but I’d rather see this as a first draft of what could be a great historical novel.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The rating reflects about 5% that I would have rated 4 stars, maybe 20% 3 stars, and the rest that just... didn't catch me at all. I picked this up at a garage sale because the first few pages were interestingly written - relaying thoughts and conversation in a unique and slightly poetic manner. I was interested in Edith's multitude of Ways and how she moved through the conversation and her world. Then it got really dense, at least for a reader with minimal intention of reading about the League of Nations (as against some other reviewers who seem to have selected it for that purpose). So I put it down again. Two and a half years later I finally blitzed through it in two Sundays. Again, occasional parts were really interestingly written, but mostly I got lost in huge stretches that seemed alternatingly slightly absurd or incredibly detail-oriented. The character made some bizarre choices and time passed in fits and starts (several years go by, although it seems like the whole story takes place within about a year) and the political scenes unfold without a clear sense of actually achieving or building towards anything in a way that would be more satisfying for that audience. A really strange experience. Maybe I just don't get it.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent novel. Our heroine, Edith, embarks from Australia as a low level diplomat at the League of Nations in the 1920's. A story of the times, the optimism of the future, and a small town Aussie growing up fast in the international arena. Edith is very likeable, despite some traits that in a real character could be annoying. The writing is simply excellent and strikes a wonderful balance as Edith's complex personal rule set melds with her adventurism in the new world that has opened up before her and oftentimes calls on her personal and professional bravery. It had me grinning or laughing out loud regularly. I'm looking forwards to the sequel, but will wait a spell.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

So many times during this book I thought I would give up on it, but I don’t like to do that so I kept going. I didn’t like Edith Berry, the main character. Her main contributions to the League of Nations it seemed were designing stationary stands and celebrations. She fell for the first man she came across on her trip and stuck with him through some strange escapades. Although set against the background of the League of Nations we really don’t learn much about it at all. Will definitely not be going back for more of Edith.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grand Days indeed, and a well researched book that has taught me so much about the League of Nations and the hopeful times in which it was established.

However, I simply cannot get past the view of a very young woman's life, with all of her innermost thoughts, being told by a much older man. But surely I'm not the only one to think this?

[Jane Camilleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the setting of this book- Geneva during the establishment of the League of Nations. I empathised with the idealism and challenges for the new breed of internationalists, who were trying to create a lasting peace. The main protagonist, Edith was interesting to a point but her musings grew tiresome at times.

[Sophia Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It felt like an almost hedonistic read, not just because of some of the tastefully risqué content but because it is such a fulfilling storyline with a main character I strongly related to.

[Anthony Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

The novel was a very enjoyable read about a modern period that doesn’t ordinarily get much exposure. I don’t understand how Edith could see herself as bohemian as I thought she had a very prudish outlook on work and life.

[Glenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting view of League Workings

Ok read, took longer than expected as I researched historical figures as I went, hence learnt something of League of Nations and the way it operated