A Bouquet of Barbed Wire

Bouquets #1

by Andrea Newman

Manson loves his daughter fiercely. So fiercely that he almost loses her in his fury when he discovers she is pregnant by her boyfriend, Gavin. Wounded and confused, he begins an affair with his secretary and neglects his wife. Within this short summer, his whole family will be turned inside out, with secrets from the distant past returning to haunt them all.

Genres: Fiction, British Literature

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1969

About the author

Andrea Newman (born 7 February 1938 in Dover, Kent) is an English author.

An only child, she taught at a grammar school after graduating with a degree in English from the Westfield College, University of London. A film version of her 1967 novel Three Into Two Won't Go, with a screenplay by Edna O'Brien, was released in 1969. It stars Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom, and was directed by Peter Hall.

Newman adapted her sixth novel A Bouquet of Barbed Wire (1969) for London Weekend Television (LWT) in 1976, as a seven-part serial. Newman recalled her work in 2010 at the time when it was being remade: "I never set out to shock, just to tell a story about an imaginary family, but I imagine most people would still disapprove of hitting your pregnant wife and having sex with her mother." The dramatisation was a popular success; its sequel, Another Bouquet, followed in 1977.

Another similar novel, Mackenzie, was dramatized by the BBC in 1980, starring Jack Galloway, Lynda Bellingham and Tracey Ullman. This adaptation was followed by Alexa (1968 – adapted for the BBC, 1982), A Sense of Guilt (1988 – adapted for the BBC, 1990), and An Evil Streak (1977 – adapted for LWT, 1999). In 2001, Newman was the writer for the television drama Pretending to Be Judith.

Her other novels include A Share of the World (1964), Mirage (1965), The Cage (1966) and A Gift of Poison (1991). A book of 15 short stories, Triangles, was published in 1990. It has been remarked that a frequent theme in Andrea Newman's novels is that with the advent of a baby, the family disintegrates.

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried reading this some twenty years ago (ouch) and couldn’t finish it. This time I did and it was mostly worth the effort. I struggled to accept the attitude to Gavin beating Prue senseless while she was pregnant - her mother not only exonerates him, they embark upon an affair while Prue lies in hospital. Prue may be a monster but I felt for a teenager who has been implicitly lusted after by her own father; what could be worse? Her behaviour may be spoilt but it’s no justification for her father’s sexual obsession, nor her (appalling) husband’s violence, yet every other character seems to use it as an excuse.
I’m putting some of this down to it being written in 1969, when mores were different and a woman being ‘knocked about a bit’ by her husband was viewed as almost par for the course in some marriages and the rest to the characters being a horrible group of people.
I did love the final page. Cassie deserved the comeuppance and it was a stark, bold ending.
I know there’s a sequel (based on the follow-up to the television adaptation) but I honestly don’t think I can stomach any more of these characters, especially the horrendous Gavin. Maybe in twenty years?

[Jan Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emotionally spoilt, self-indulgent Prue, falls pregnant at the age of 19 to the dark and dashing Gavin. Her father, respectable Peter Manson, cannot abide the idea of them being close; it's as if another man has taken his rightful place. As he faces his own mid-life crisis, Peter tries to come to terms with the loss of possession over his daughter by beginning an affair with his young secretary. Gavin and Prue attempt to work through their own marriage anomalies as Prue perfects her role as the introspective, attention-seeking victim; eventually goading Gavin into punishing her. When she spills the beans about her father's affair to her gentile, subservient mother, Cassie, Gavin sees red. But his out of control heavy-handedness with Prue has an unexpected effect on Cassie, and her own emotional skeleton falls from the closet with the slightest push, sending the sexual dynamic between them all spinning on its axis yet again.

Dark, raw, honest, and still maintaining a scandalous edge, especially when one considers this was written in 1969 and aired on TV in the seventies. I remember watching the series with my mother and we were both transfixed by this melting-pot of emotions played out by the middle-class Manson family. It’s not necessary to like any of these characters or to condone how they live, but rather to view it as an indulgent, hugely entertaining insight into their messy sex lives. But then, it’s so much more than that. How complex we humans are, how fragile our feelings and failures. What to show, what to keep buried. The complexities of ageing, domestic violence, incestuous thoughts, adultery, and sadism and masochism are all touched upon, but what makes this book so good is that none of this is described in any great detail or used gratuitously – it’s much more subtle. And all the more powerful, and recognisable for that.

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Emphasises the alienation prolonged self-absorption leads to.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved re-reading this, in my top 10!

[Carol Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

An honest expression of human emotions in way which if written today would never make it past the publisher's slush pile - and that's what I love about this book - not one of the characters being 'sympathetic in any way. A wholly and refreshingly immoral portrayal of human emotions at their darkest and rawest.

[Vrsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book befits the title. The story is indeed such a complicated, ugly mess, it might as well be a bunch of barbed wires tangled together. Do read, if you are ready of complicated family drama and unsolicited, unaccepted affairs, i.e. if your mind accepts the changes involved.

[Mukesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough about the challenges of living in a family and relationship. The level of compromises that are needed to make to keep the family together are get to be known.

[Kiri Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can’t believe I’m saying this, but god I need a Geoff in my life. Get you a guy who seems to care very little until you realise he actually cares a /lot/?!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

9/10

[Ungupta McGuanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a slow start and then bam! I'm watching Jerry Springer.

[Harriet Styles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated but in a fascinating way. This book was way ahead of its time. compelling story.

[Cait · Rating 4 out of 5]

lost a star due to the incest 🤷‍♀️

[Fashion and Textile Museum]

Many will remember this as the 1976 TV adaptation, starring Frank Finlay, Susan Penhaligon, James Aubrey, Sheila Allen, which drew an audience of 26 million. It was the author Andrea Newman’s sixth novel, originally entitled Afternoon, but that changed after she went on a walk with her mother and the dog ran under a barbed wire fence. It tells the story of a successful middle-aged man who is driven half mad by his daughter’s choice of husband, and who embarks on a risky affair, blowing his comfortable existence to smithereens. Pussy bow blouses and manly sideburns very much in evidence here.

By Sarah Vine

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

An office affair.

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Revolting.