A Petrol Scented Spring

by Ajay Close

LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION

The day after her wedding, Donella Ferguson Watson wakes up shackled to a man haunted by the past. The lonely days become weeks, months. Her husband Hugh, a prison doctor, will offer no explanation for their sexless marriage. She comes to suspect the answer lies with a hunger-striking suffragette who was force fed and held in solitary confinement. But what really happened between Hugh and his prisoner patient?

A Petrol Scented Spring is a riveting novel of repression, jealousy and love, and the struggle for women’s emancipation.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Feminism, Womens, Historical

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 17, 2015

About the author

Ajay Close is a Scottish-based dramatist and writer of literary fiction. Her novels explore the emotional flashpoints of place, politics and family. Her latest, What Doesn't Kill Us, is a fictional reworking of real events in 1970s Yorkshire.

Reviews

[Flapper72 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've listed this as historical fiction but the historical part is rather loose. It's about the suffragettes, their campaign, being imprisoned in Perth and their force feeding. The book is focussed on a few specific ladies and the doctor who was force feeding them whilst incarcerated. The main facts are, apparently, historically correct but the relationship between the suffragettes and the doctor (one in particular) is created. It was uncomfortably written. I think I mean that it was enjoyable but some of the descriptions were uncomfortable - the action of being force in sexual interactions, smell, the actual force feeding. It was so amazingly written that it was real - horrible. I would see myself as a feminist and so am ashamed about scarcity of my knowledge of the suffragette movement. It wasn't just about women. Not all men had the vote at the beginning of the twentieth century either. What will I be doing? This has made me want to read more - historical facts and details on this time. Would I read another Ajay Close book? Yes, I most definitely would. Is this a book that will educate you about the suffragette movement? No but, hopefully, like me it will make you inquisitive to know more and, at the same time, it's a great read

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much enjoyed this book, but would have been improved by having dates on chapter headings. Sometimes was unclear who was narrating and when it was. Hilda's chapters were always headed as such.

[Mark O'Neill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an amazing book. Based on a true story, it describes the experiences of a suffragette in prison in 1914 for what would now be regarded as terrorist activities (including arson, hinted at in the title). When suffragette prisoners went on hunger strike, the government started to release and then re-arrest them when they were healthy enough again - the notorious Cat and Mouse Act. The next tactic was to force-feed the prisoners, who were kept in solitary confinement, denied visitors or letters. The book does not provide a broad sweep of suffragette history but focuses on the most intense and personal site of the conflict - the relationship between one prisoner and the doctor who force-feeds her. The genius - and I do not use this word lightly - of the book, is that the story is told not from the point of view of the prisoner or the doctor, but of the doctor's wife. She compulsively imagines the battle of wills, the process of force-feeding, the actions of her stiff Presbyterian husband as invades another woman's body, searching for the key to her own marriage. The result is a moving, at times unsettling and compelling book.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

The force-feeding details were too much. Add in the suggested romantic feelings between the prison doctor and the suffragette prisoner was enough for me to put it down.

[Fiona Graph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book an intriguing curate's egg. The first third of the book is very well done, describing a suffragette on hunger strike and her relationship with the doctor who is forcibly feeding her. The author has obviously done her research and paints a vivid and fascinating picture of this period. The next section describes Donella's first years of marriage with the doctor and was less absorbing but still kept me turning the pages. However, the book then becomes more unconvincing when Donella suddenly decides to become a doctor, having shown absoluttely no interest whatsoever in medicine or indeed anything intellectual. There is no convincing evolution of her sudden change change from a society woman with few interests. The last third was disappointing and it peters off rather strangely at the end.

It's written mostly from the first-person POV of Donella, but sometimes shifts into third-person POVs of other characters. It also jumps about in time so I'd have to think: who's this person, what year are we? Both these aspects detracted somewhat from the story. The hunger striker and her ambivalent relationship with the doctor was by far the strongest part - ultimately I think it's an ambitious book that tries to tackle too much.

[Adrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for the Read Harder challenge, the micropress category. I was on a trip to Edinburgh so I got a recommendation from the Lighthouse bookstore, which was a great place to visit. I liked that I got a souvenir book that told the story of some Scottish suffragettes, and the historical context for the characters was definitely interesting.

The book tells the story of several characters and jumps around in the timelines a lot. The narrator can also change. For me it didn't come together in a convincing way. I think basically the book tried to do too much.

I also felt that some of the female characters were a bit undifferentiated to the extent that it was hard to tell them apart. You could totally take that criticism as a compliment instead, because the similarity between two of the characters is one of the points of the plot.

Another place that you could praise or criticize - one character basically has Stockholm Syndrom. I found it hard to relate to a character who was so inconsistent.

[Inyourcities · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best book in this segment
...

Top 10 Car Washing Points in Greater Noida
Best Car Washing Points in Manipur
Top 10 Car Washing Points in Thane
Top Car Washing Centers in Bhopal
Top 10 Car Washing Points in Visakhapatnam

[Caley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book really wasn’t for me, I didn’t enjoy it
I didn’t enjoy the characters at all and found the book to jump around through times and narratives with no warning so it was easy to get disoriented
I expected this book to be more about Donella and Arabella, to maybe include more about votes for women but it mainly focussed on the doctor who seemed to take delight in violently force feeding prisoners and I didn’t care to read his story.
There are people who will enjoy this book but I’m not one of them
There are a lot of trigger warnings including but not limited to: graphic description of violent force feeding, sexual assault, amputation

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting fictional tale based on real people, places and events during the women’s suffrage movement and later. It’s horrifying how the doctor carries out his duties having convinced himself into believing he’s doing the right thing, and that he doesn’t examine it closely. The suffragettes on hunger strike are insane therefore not entitled to basic human rights. And in his personal life, the story shows he doesn’t examine anything too closely (in case he might be wrong?)
Good story overall but not really much resolution - it felt unfinished.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It listened to rather than read this book, and that may have been fortunate. If I had been reading it I may have become a little discouraged as it was not always easy to work out who was narrating and from what period in time. That said, and putting aside some of the more gruesome paragraphs, I enjoyed the story, looked forward my sessions in the car listening to it, and am now on the lookout for more suffragette themed novels.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book illuminated a part of the history of the women’s suffrage movement that I was unaware of: the hunger strikers imprisoned in Scotland pre WWI. The shocking scenes of force feeding are hard to read. These facts are wrapped up in a fictitious narrative whose structure can be hard to follow. The individual parts of this book are great and I’m glad to have read it, but somehow it doesn’t come together as an overall great read.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️. I didn’t know much about the force feeding of suffragettes, nor Cat and Mouse laws, so I found Close’s work quite interesting, and the imagined relationship between doctor and prisoner was a clever way to explore this history. The writing is good, though I found some sentences confusing more than a few times. The end chapters were flat.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

good read, thought provoking , I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to others .

[Cit Lennox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty and sharp with strong female narrators and a fair whack of feminist history. What's not to like?

[Gary Duckworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought some of this book was enthralling. But a fair few parts weren’t terribly interesting. I was overnight confused with who was who. Perhaps it was just me.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trigger warning: rape

I expected this to be much more about the suffragette movement, and therefore feminism, than it is. It really is just background to the main story - the relationship between the narrator, her husband and another woman - and is used to accentuate the power relations theme.

Other reviewers have mentioned it's an unpleasant read and I agree. For me it was mostly due to the frequent details of lust between characters that hate each other and have, imo, no redeeming features (with the exception of Arabella who I found admirable but not likeable). This is particularly true of the scene where each of the two main characters rapes the other in one encounter.

I would have preferred a different focus to the story, if not on suffrage or the era, on the relationship between Donella, Billy, and Hilda, which would have been interesting given the periods the story travels through. Different issues could have been explored, for example how the perception of homosexuality, in society and in the characters themselves, changes throughout time. This would have been more interesting to me than another story of a love-hate relationship between an emotionally stunted man and two women.

Finally, the narrative was non-linear but in a messy way that I found irritating rather than interesting.

These are just my preferences, it isn't badly written so others may find it enjoyable.

[Lesley Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a disturbing read, much of it gruesome and indeed powerfully unpleasant, which is testament to the quality of writing which is very fine in places. I took little pleasure in the reading however. Such graphic descriptions of this violation were upsetting. I was truly shocked at such vileness. All about control which was then again exercised in that ghastly marriage.
At times, I was confused as to who was narrating. The changes of tense irritated me. The characters were well drawn, but I was so disappointed to learn that the key players were real people around whom the writer had woven this story. I would have preferred complete fiction, as some aspects of the plot and relationships now become speculative.
The initial intensity was not maintained throughout the book. The final part of the story seemed to be a bit of a rush and somehow lame as I felt it just frittered out. I did enjoy the vocabulary challenge, reacquainting myself with some words, long not used. Charivari, for example, I have not met for many years. I have learned more about the suffragettes which is positive and from reading this book do feel motivated to learn more. I will research Arabella for sure.

[Josie Crimp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I though this book was an admirable venture, especially because from both the non-fiction and historical fiction available, it would be easy to assume that suffragettes only existed in London. Many of the scenes in the prison were skillfully written, and harrowing to read. However, I felt the plot was stretched out too thinly, especially in the last third of the book, and many things that I was interested in were skimped over. My other issue is that, because the (male) prison doctor is the character that links all the other (mostly female) characters together, there was a sense that he was the main protagonist, when that role should surely either be Arabella or Dodo. It's a worthy effort, but in my opinion it doesn't quite succeed.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a shock to discover that one of my very favourite writers had published a book in 2015 and I'd not heard of it until last month. Only did so, in fact, as her succeeding one was beginning to be touted.

It was much less of a shock to learn, at the end of Petrol Scented Spring, how much of it was based on real people. A novelised version, but one, with its mix of stiff-necked attitudes and misunderstandings, of ignorance and defiance, that made compelling, sometimes throat-aching reading.

[Liz Moffat · Rating 3 out of 5]

An insight into the suffragette movement and what happened to the women in prison. Arabella Scott ends up in Perth Prison and is being force fed because she is on hunger strike. The story is narrated by Dodo who marries the doctor, Doctor Hugh Ferguson Watson force feeding Arabella and other political prisoners. Set in Perth so description of the surrounding areas are good. An interesting story but one which requires concentration.

[Rosalind · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great story, about, until recently, much neglected subjects: the suffragettes, asylums in the early 20th century and GPI (general paralysis of the insane or tertiary syphilis). The central character, Hugh Ferguson Watson, emotionally repressed, thrust, by his intellect and education into an alien social milieu becomes at times torturer, at times tragic antihero. Close weaves a captivating story told through his (emotionally replete) women.

[Felicity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but not entirely sure about this one.. I would like to have been more 'moved'.. suddenly we were in Australia towards the end.. found that too much.

[Victoria Frow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good. A bit hard to get into at first as I wasn't sure about the perspective the story it was coming from but that was soon cleared up. A bit hard to read in places due to its subject matter but in the end it was gripping and worth a read.