The Servants' Quarters

by Lynn Freed

A “beautifully told story of love and growth” set in post-WWII South Africa (Booklist). When disfigured soldier George Harding returns from the front, he moves a poor family into the servant’s quarters of his family’s South African estate, saving them from financial ruin—and initiating a series of events that will change all of their fates forever.   Among the new tenants at Harding’s Rest is Cressida, a young girl haunted by phantoms of World War II and the Holocaust, and terrified by Harding’s gnarled body. Invited to the main house to help bring Harding’s hopelessly timid nephew out of his shell, Cressida makes an impression on her family’s benefactor.   As she blossoms into womanhood, Cressida slowly becomes beguiled by what once repulsed her, in this strange and beautiful decades-spanning novel that “blends Dickensian musings on class with a Brontë-like love story” (San Francisco Chronicle).   “Cressida, a young girl who watches those around her patch up their wounds from the war and carry on with the weight of pretense, is as observant and as wickedly truthful as any Jane Austen character.” —Amy Tan

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Africa, South Africa, Coming Of Age, Historical

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 27, 2009

About the author

Lynn Freed is a South African novelist and academic.

She came to the U.S. first as a foreign exchange student, and then went on to receive an M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from Columbia University. She taught at Bennington College, Saint Mary's College of California, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Oregon, the University of Montana, and the University of Texas in Austin.
Ms Freed's short fiction, memoirs and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's,[1] The Atlantic Monthly, Southwest Review, The Georgia Review, the Michigan Quarterly Review, Tin House, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsday, Mirabella, House Beautiful, House & Garden, and Vogue Magazine.
Her work is widely translated and anthologized, and has been listed in Best American Short Stories and in The O. Henry Award Prize Stories.
Ms. Freed is Professor of English at the University of California, Davis, and lives in Northern California.[2]

Reviews

[Reema · Rating 4 out of 5]

here we go . . . at first, it read like an upscale version of a harlequin romance. child bride/rich patron-lover? check. haunted past and haunted house? check. sexy scenes and class conflict, sometimes with their limbs entangled? double check. i have to admit, while i am still an admirer/alum of lynn freed's style, i felt she was rehashing her stock characters here and replaying her infuriatingly limited interest with one character, usually young, female, and angry. (don't get me wrong--i *root* for girls like that!) but there were several moments when i wished the reader could have gotten a better sense of some of the other potentially rich characters . . . such as the "good" sister and Mr. Harding's selfless lover and South African Phineas. Then the story might have taken on a richer, broader dimension through its less-backgrounded characters. However, the novel frustratingly stayed within the stubbornly selfish (if admirably so) confines of Cressida's mind and, through her, Mr. Harding's similar (if more educated) mind.

However. I acknowledge also that these are to some extent stylistic quibbles, and that there are persuasive feminist and aesthetic arguments for Freed's authorial choices. There aren't many novels with such openly defiant, sexual, and harshly observant female narrators; and perhaps the novel would be unruly, much less structurally sound if it hadn't focused largely on Cressida as a character. Freed's writing too, regardless of its content, is still spare, bold, and uncannily insightful about class relations, desire, and self-discovery/destiny. I found myself admiring the economy of what she calls "brushstrokes," by which she conveys entire relationships, racial dynamics, and psychologies. I also loved how unsparingly complex her mother-daughter relationship was, in yet another novel of hers, and how eerily wise she continues to be about the nature and course of sex and love. in these regards, freed continues to be, to my knowledge, one of fiercest writers out there in terms of the writerly guts and integrity it takes to depict the thing that no one else will name (or touch).

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

"If every family chooses someone to punish, I was the one chosen by mine. Mr. Harding, for instance. When he came to lunch, Ma always put him next to me. Why me? I wanted to know. Why not Miranda, she's a freak herself? Every night Miranda woke up screaming that the Germans were coming for her over a wall."

And there you have all the important storylines of The Servants' Quarters introduced in the first sentence. Ten-year-old Cressida lives in South Africa post WWII, although the war could hardly be closer to someone not even born before it ended. Most of the adult men in the novel have been affected by it to some degree, none more than Mr. Harding, who sustained horrible facial burns when his plane was shot down. Cressida's father, although virtually a vegetable (tangentially connected to the war), has infused his girls, Cressida and Miranda, with a palpable fear of what could happen to them, just by virtue of him, and therefore them, being Jewish. Muriel, Cressida's mother, is the town floozy and yet maintains an air of delusional class superiority over the rest of the town and over Cressida as well, whom she obviously enjoys bullying.

When Cressida's parents lose their house and accept Mr. Harding's invitation to live at his estate, albeit in the servants' quarters, she is "hired" by Mr. Harding to infuse his nephew, Edgar, with the same sort of high spiritedness that she has. More easily said than done. If that sounds just a tad familiar -- young person from wrong side of tracks hired by freaky recluse to entertain distant relative -- Freed has Mr. Harding hand Cressida a copy of Great Expectations, just to make sure you didn't miss the reference. Other obvious cultural touchstones Freed includes are Jane Eyre and Lolita, while Cressida reminded me a great deal of Briony from Atonement.

Three-quarters of the way through the book, I thought, What a great summer read. Freed's writing is fluid and her storytelling makes one keep turning the pages. (I read it in about two days.) But the last section lost me. I just couldn't get on board with the pivotal romantic relationship in the story. And then Freed's wonderful writing came to a screeching halt with this exchange:

"You never asked me to come to your room in the first place!"
"I'd been asking you for years, you little fool, if only you'd been able to see it."

Did Freed take the day off and let someone else write this scene? I don't know, but I'm happy to say there isn't any other portion of the book that is this painful to read.

Also disappointing was that although the novel is set in South Africa, one learns very little about the country and the people, as virtually all the action takes place on the Harding estate.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really a quite well written book and an interesting setting. As the backcover suggests it is a Beauty and the Beast type of story, and would be much more compelling were it not for the somewhat creepy pedophile subtext and the sheer cookiness of almost all the characters. With very few exceptions (Phineas and Elspeth) noone in this book is a grown-up or acts like one. The heroine is a teenager so we can expect the angst and the tearful outbursts from her, but pretty much everyone has them and noone has any self-control. Was this a criticism of the colonizers? I really liked the subplot of the war's consequences and what it meant to be Jewish in post-war South Africa, but it got dropped once the melodrama got really going. I liked the class confusion (what it means to be "common") and the displacement the heroine feels, but I cannot help feeling that the choices she made were ultimately self-serving. Perhaps all of our choices are, but despite liking Cressida v. much I have a lingering suspicion that she was a gold-digger after all.

[Susann · Rating 2 out of 5]

When it comes to NPR book reviews, I think I need to stick with Nancy Pearl and Maureen Corrigan. Alan Cheuse and I just don't share the same tastes. Freed's writing carried me along, but I didn't get anything out of the story. The setting involves a Jewish family in South Africa, right after WWII. Race, class, and religious conflicts were to be expected, and Freed also packed in themes of blame, guilt, and responsibility. All these issues, combined with unappealing characters, left me unmoved. The Pygmalion element also didn't work for me and creeped me out a little.

[Amy (Bossy Bookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky little book. I was intrigued and the two main characters were odd and interesting enough to pull me along, but I actually felt like it could have/should have been a little longer. The immediate setting was vivid, but several other aspects weren't fully realized: the greater context of South Africa, religious tensions for Jews after WWII, and the sense of responsibility for the main protagonist's silly, sloppy actions. Wish I could give it 4 stars. I'm still thinking about the story.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was 'weird', I can see why some might call it gothic, but the story was so intriguing. I can say I enjoyed it. Love the author's command of Cressida's voice, even at different ages. I thought the story's style was dark and ambiguous and vague, which was annoying and yet at the same time kept drawing me in. I actually found myself satisfied with the ending. For the family friendly reader, there is some sexuality.

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a bit to get into this: expected a standard plot & finally realized it's like life - there ain't not plot, it goes day by day till you reach a defining moment, and on from there! Once I stopped expecting 'normal', it was easy to sit back & watch it unfold as the pages turned!

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up for $0.25 at a library fundraiser because it said it was a post-WWII retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but it was much more of a coming-of-age story involving a lot of emotionally complex but generally unhealthy relationships. I probably wouldn't even have noticed the Beauty and the Beast-ish elements if the back cover hadn't said that that's what this was, and comparing the story to a fairy tale is a disservice to the insightfulness and realism that Freed brought to Cressida's thoughts and feelings as she grew up.

**Possible spoilers ahead**
Obviously this wasn't a page-turner, since a short book wouldn't usually take me a month. I put it down several times because I wanted space from the characters and the story. There were more parallels with Coetzee's Disgrace than just a setting in modern South Africa. It was clear early on who the 'Beast' character was and who the 'Beauty' character was, and I felt uncomfortable about the idea that this was the romantic relationship that the story was building to.

[Ellyn Bache · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quirky and sometimes creepy story about a girl in a dysfunctional family in South Africa just after WWII. She's ten when the book begins, a bit traumatized by the events of a war she didn't witness, relegated with her mother and sister to the servant's quarters of an estate owned by a man severely disfigured in battle but dealing with it better than the people who have to look at him do. The novel is populated by illegitimate children (or maybe not), loose women, strange-acting relatives and (happily) some really decent servants. I kept thinking, "this novel is ridiculous" and meaning to put it down, but somehow it swept me along and I read every word.

[Donald Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and a half stars --

This book is a clever twist on the typical coming of age story with Jane Austen style, but unlike being a story of somebody's first introduction into society it goes into the drama from inside one family, with a focus that is more singular compared to Austen's.

The flaws and tensions in a high society family are shown subtly, but also clearly-- for instance the comparisons between the holocaust and everyday life at the start.

One wonders whether the Servant's Quarters, is the servants, or how enslaved the main character feels to the society and the family demands.

An understated look at the peoples first introductions to the demands of the social order.

[Donald Lands · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a clever twist on the typical coming of age story with Jane Austen style, but unlike being a story of somebody's first introduction into society it goes into the drama from inside one family, with a focus that is more singular compared to Austen's.

The flaws and tensions in a high society family are shown subtly, but also clearly-- for instance the comparisons between the holocaust and everyday life at the start.

One wonders whether the Servant's Quarters, is the servants, or how enslaved the main character feels to the society and the family demands.

An understated look at the peoples first introductions to the demands of the social order.

[hope linan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe I’m too dense or uncultured to enjoy the premise of this book. Chapters were short and choppy, I never felt like anything was explained except for the weird sex scenes, and the whole aura of the book was odd and pedophilic. We never know how old the “love interest” is, so all I could imagine was a forty year old man taking care of a ten year old. When she grows up, she becomes his mistress. It felt very groomy and uncomfortable. It was just clumsily written and I really did not enjoy whatever the author was trying to convey in this one.

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Started out well enough, but much like a Seinfeld episode, it was about nothing. Whining, simpering rich people, only concerned with themselves. That was wasted time I'll never get back.

[Navida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rich writing and fascinating characters. Ultimately the ending wasn't satisfying.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

A blurb on the back of the book likened this book to a Beauty & the Beast tale, and it certainly is that. However, it's a somewhat disturbing story, in that the heroine is a teenage girl (13 at the outset) who became (eventually) the wife of the beast...in this case, a severely burned war vet who came home to recover. There was a definite undercurrent of something inappropriate there, and though it was made "relatively" clear that nothing untoward happened between the two until 1) she was of legal age, and 2) she made the first move, it nonetheless struck me as a little pedophelic, and as such a little creepy.

Most of the characters in this book were supremely unlikeable. Cressida was a flighty, emotional, snotty teenager for the majority of the book. She grew out of it to a great extent by the end, but I had a hard time liking her, though when it came to choosing between her and most of the other characters, it was impossible to root for anyone else. Her mother was not only useless, but amoral, selfish, and ridiculously snobby. Her sister was stupid and mean. Both were jealous bitches in the extreme. Mrs. Arbuthnot (Mr. Harding's housekeeper) was an absolute shrew. Edgar was a creep and a pervert, as was his roommate (and tutor). George Harding himself was weird and a little creepy, but he ultimate proved himself to be a reasonably decent man.

Phineas was hilarious and blunt, and I loved him. But best of all was Elspeth, who proved her mettle and the truth of her heart by letting go of the man she loved (George Harding) so he have who he loved most (Cressida). I loved her for her unselfishness, and her true & freely given friendship to Cressida.

In the end, the book is a winner. It provoked an emotional reaction in me, and made me pause to evaluate exactly what makes a relationship work. In the case here, it was definitely a collection of unusual characteristics that perhaps in any other circumstance would not have worked. And perhaps that is, in essence, the beauty of Beauty and the Beast.

[Samantha Glasser · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Servants' Quarters is a story told in three parts. The first begins with Cressida, the narrator and protagonist of the story. She is only ten years old, and she is terrified of the Germans. Although she was born after WWII, her family has felt the effects of it; her sister Miranda suffers from nightmares as well and her father's paralysis is a constant burden on the family. To make matters worse, George Harding, the wealthy owner of a brilliant house on the hill, was scarred during the war, and his disfigurements are an abhorrent sight to young Cressida. Her stubbornness causes her to take the opposite stance of her mother when the family has to move into Mr. Harding's servants' quarters because of financial reasons. The second part of the story shows Cressida as a teenager of fifteen, still at odds with her family, but now taken under Mr. Harding's wing. Rumors circulate that she is an illegitimate child of Mr. Harding's brother, but she doesn't feel that his kindness to her stems from guilt. The third section shows Cressida at eighteen, and now the reason for Mr. Harding's interest has become clear.

The best part of Freed's story is the central character. Cressida is interesting enough to carry the story, although in spite of her "wild child" personality, she can be somewhat predictable. The Servants' Quarters is not without faults. The story tends to jump around frequently, leaving the reader without a sense of the causes and effects of the actions. Some of the episodes feel unfinished, like Freed has given us an outline that she needs to fill in. Many of the events remain unexplained with an occasional offhanded and unsatisfying half-explanation. What could have been a better novel exists instead as a haphazardly put-together draft.

[Merry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I liked this one. It was a mess of read, as in the relationships were all so damaged, some physically as well as mentally. This is not a book about a pedophile as I read in someone's review - those people seek out 11 and under - this man, though he was twice her age, old enough to be her father, watched her from a distance and only after much conversation, many years, and extenuating circumstances did he fall, and had sex with this young girl at 17, which still is not appropriate, but it was not pedophilia, as I will not knowingly read a book on that subject matter. Their relationship was odd, and even though I felt this man could have maintained what he had always wanted for her, to free her from a life of chaos, a terrible mother and to get a college education etc.... in the end, by following with his feelings and not his brain!, and not doing what he had set out to do, save her, he kept her from college, kept her for himself. In my eyes this cripples her, but only time will tell. Money does not solve everything, and an education is a valuable tool for life. Too many relationships to comment on, but the author did a great job uncovering the character's personalties, and kept them consistent throughout the book. Interesting dynamics between the characters and my compliments to the author for keeping them all straight while offering us so much depth into their personal psyche.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a young girl of ten, Cressida is amazingly complex. George Harding, at two and half times her age, notices. George Harding, severely wounded and deformed in the war, spends most of his time at his home, a large mansion built with sugar money. He cares for his nephew, Edgar and a variety of people through the years occupy his carriage house including Cressida's family.

Cressida's father is comatose following a smack on the head with a golf club which leaves her mother, Muriel, to take care of raising the family and managing to get by financially.

Taking place in South Africa give the story an exotic feel and yet the lives of Cressida's family is more akin to white trash.

This story has a mysterious quality and the characters are fascinatingly complex. It reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It is one of the few books I would reread just because there is so much packed into each word and sentence; it is like a piece of art that needs to be studied and pondered.

[Susan Andres · Rating 4 out of 5]

While reading this book, I kept thinking of John Gardner's words in On Becoming a Novelist: "an aesthetically successful story will contain a sense of life's strangeness." So I was gratified to see how many of the reviews here describe this novel as "strange," "odd," or "weird." It's an deeply unsettling book, not in a sinister way but in disturbing ways that shake up your assumptions and expectations. In that way, it reminds me of two of my favorite books, Rachel Cusk's brilliant and gloriously satisfying The Country Life and Jonathan Evison's equally brilliant and satisfying The Advanced Fundamentals of Caregiving. While Freed's tale never fully sank its teeth into me the way those two books did, it definitely held me. I rarely read a book from start to finish in a single day, as I did this one, or put a book down with such a peaceful sense of completion.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to begin, but draws you in about 2/3 of the way through. I don't know how to categorize this one; it seems to resist pigeonholing. Set in South Africa after WWII, but not really Booker Prize fodder- not focused enough on the setting. The narrator comes of age, but it's not really about that (or maybe it is). There's a romance, but it's not really about that either. Perhaps it's about a relationship. The two primary characters (our narrator, who grows from a young girl to a young adult, and a wealthy man disfigured in the war who plays numerous roles in her life) are carefully drawn and compelling. Everyone else is roughly sketched, but that suffices. Overall, I liked it but I'm not sure why.

[Butterflycager · Rating 1 out of 5]

I chose this book because I needed South Africa for an Around the World reading challenge. That, plus the fact that it was an extremely short book enabled me to finish it. It wasn't that the writing was poor - it wasn't at all, and I would read Lynn Freed again. My issue with this book was the characters - they were some of the nastiest and most manipulative creatures I have have ever read about. I found myself rejoicing that that they were only fictional creations, and not real people that I would ever encounter. I guess I am just one of those readers who really needs somebody to identify with and sympathize with in order to enjoy a book, and I didn't find anybody in this story appealing.

[Dana Burgess · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Servants’ Quarters by Lynn Freed is a little book that packs a big punch. It is an interesting exploration of the residual effects of WWII on the ‘next generation’: those kids that were babies during the war, or born just after, and were raised by those who lived through it. The story itself is set in Africa and I was looking forward to the ethnic slant that would bring. Sadly, that slant was missing. The novel read as if it could have been set anywhere. It was slightly disappointing but the story was good enough that I was able to overlook that. Slightly reminiscent of Jane Eyre, Lynn Freed none-the-less stays away from a retelling, and The Servants’ Quarters ends up being a fabulous and unique novel. Definitely worth a look.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely well written, in complete control of the language. The character dynamics were completely believable and very interesting. Protagonist is really well drawn. Overall, though, I wast just sort of bored by the narrative. Nothing about it ever really grabbed me. I don't think this is the book's fault, it just wasn't my thing, really. Again, it was great to see all the characters as they played off the protagonist, but story-wise, I wanted more. More what, I don't know, but something. This is a short book, and time moves really quickly. Maybe spending some more time with these great characters would have done it.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the title, I imagined The Servants’ Quarters to be an altogether different kind of story. Instead, we are quickly introduced to Cressida whose family has fallen on difficult times and they are forced to “move up the hill” to the former Servants’ Quarters building on the property of Mr. George Harding. Mr. Harding is disfigured from a War injury and Cressida is initially disgusted by him. Over the years, as Cressida’s family’s circumstances ebb and flow and they move up and down the hill, Mr. Harding is the one constant.

Read the rest of my review at:

https://wordpress.com/post/84716237/107/

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting, coming-of-age story about a young girl growing up with a dysfunctional mother and sister and having to relocate to live in servan't quarters of a wealthy man's estate due to money problems. She develops a strong bond with the man, who 30+ years older, mentors her in literature, teaches her, guides her and she eventually falls in love with him as a young adult. It's easy-to-read and enjoyable to hear what happens to this young girl, who is creative, clever and full of aspirations.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Africa, this post-WWII story is a coming of age story centering on a young girl whose family moves between the worlds of privilege and dependency. With unusual and disturbing characters surrounding her, she struggles with issues of identity and belonging.

While not the most gripping novel of this type, I found the perspective fresh and intriguing, and there were enough plot twists to keep my interest.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was definitely a strange book, but it was smooth and well-written. It was also a quick read.

I liked the character development, and the relationships were complex and interesting. I was a bit thrown with the last part of the book--it was a bit too strange for me. There were also things such as the location that really didn't make a difference when you thought they would have.

It's definitely not a boring book, and it will keep you thinking, so I'd suggest it.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one of the randomly-selected-from-the-library's-new-release-shelf books. This one was extremely well written, and had a lot of neat literary elements. The beginning third of the book seems so hopeless that i found it somewhat depressing, but the end was very well done and you are happy that the main character has found some semblance of moderate happiness. An interesting look at life in general, and an enlightening perspective on people's character.

[Allyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very odd book. I do not know The Beauty & The Beast story but read on the book that the author used that story as inspiration. It felt very superficial, as if she was only skimming the surface of her characters. And this was after Half Broke Horses. Granted the book was really short but still it felt like a watercolor wash rather than an oil painting. I would explore her other books, maybe.

[Katharine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had three of my favorite things going for it: a "Beauty and the Beast" influenced story line, exquisite prose, and atmosphere...atmosphere...atmosphere.
I absolutely loved it. The characters were sympathetic, engaging, and beautifully drawn. The story drew me in and held me, which is impressive as its quite a small book. That's its one fault though...I only wish it had been longer.
Sequel? Prequel? Please?