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The telling
Estranged from her family and from her past by a horrifying episode, Nancy Brewster lives as a hermit in her family home. But now she is finding her lonely life intolerable and looks back over her agonised life. Does her journal reveal the truth, or is it an attempt to defend an unforgivable crime?
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 5, 2014
I thought this was a brilliantly written story that delves into the memories and the story of a woman who has suffered in her life. It is descriptive and fascinating but yet there is a certain detachment of the telling of the events, much as there would be if someone in real life were to do this.
October 23, 2012
I thought Seymour's biography of Graves was pretty good, but sadly this novel based on the infamous events in the summer of 1939, when Laura Riding and Robert Graves were drawn into the lives of Kit and Schuyler Jackson by Tom and Julie Matthews, just wasn't very well-written. "Nancy Brewster" (Kit) is too chilly and uncomprehending to be a successful narrator, "Isabel March" (Laura Riding) is described rather than shown to be anyone interesting, and surprisingly (given that Seymour already wrote about him), "Charles Neville" (Graves) is a really unpleasant, weak-willed pretentious creature. "Chance" (Jackson) is the most interesting person in the book, but we never get a sense -- as we do in the Graves biography -- why he might abandon his wife and children for Isabel-Laura. Laura Riding was, after all, a real person -- a mortal woman -- not a witch, and not a goddess of any colour, so just saying "Laura hypnotized everyone" explains nothing, and doesn't excuse the people who allowed her to exercise her will through them, either. This novel ends up pretty much being an object lesson in what happens when a skilled writer used to sticking to facts tries to make them into a story -- biographies are as much artistic creations as novels are, but as Jean Rhys said, novels require "a sequence and then a shape," and this book has neither.
January 4, 2012
The Telling by Miranda Seymour is the life story, life confessions perhaps, of Nancy Parker. She is living out her retirement in a satisfactory way, given that she has been one of life’s downtrodden. She has been victimised, abused, betrayed and even framed, a recipient of repeated short straws through no fault of her own. And Nancy Porter also bears witness to the fact that if enough of it is thrown, then some of it starts to stick.
Now she is old and dearly wants to relive it all by writing it down on paper. She does not attempt a linear recollection, though. Instead she allows time to switch across decades to recall salient events in their context. Throughout we are aware of a crisis that drew the heart from the middle of Nancy’s life. As a result, she was incarcerated for fifteen years. It is the circumstances that led to this that form the central plank of The Telling’s plot.
We begin at the beginning, however, with a childhood that knew abuse, denial and bigotry. Despite this, Nancy grew up. Then, as a young woman, she was packed off to relatives in New York. They immediately try to remake her in their own image, but her interests are aroused by an acrobatic character she meets in the street. He inhabits a part of the city unknown to her well-heeled hosts. He has the unlucky first name of Chance, and Nancy takes it to become Mrs Brewster.
Chance is on the edge of the city’s cultural life. The couple hobnob with writers and other who claim insights into the human condition. Nancy meanwhile becomes a mother and makes a home. She is a giving sort. But the daughter, Eleanor, is a source of concern. Events conspire further to spell danger for the household. There are crises.
Via a mutual friend the Brewsters meet Charles and Isobel. They live abroad, but a change of circumstance brings them to the Brewsters’ cottage in New England as lodgers. The rambling house proves too small for everyone and, according to the record, Nancy suffers a breakdown of sorts, a catastrophe that starts her fifteen year incarceration in institutions. There is a twist, by the way. But, as a result, her own daughter never again entrusts her with the care of her own children.
The Telling is eventually a satisfying read. But I repeatedly felt themes surfacing and then sinking back to the depths, lost, ignored and out of mind. For me it was a novel that lacked coherence. Nancy’s childhood experiences, for instance, were vividly portrayed. One felt there would be consequences, but they were apparently forgotten. By the end I was mildly disappointed by the claim that much of the material was based on the lives of named people. I felt this added nothing to the book or its ideas. These are fairly small criticisms, however, because The Telling remains a worthwhile read.
Now she is old and dearly wants to relive it all by writing it down on paper. She does not attempt a linear recollection, though. Instead she allows time to switch across decades to recall salient events in their context. Throughout we are aware of a crisis that drew the heart from the middle of Nancy’s life. As a result, she was incarcerated for fifteen years. It is the circumstances that led to this that form the central plank of The Telling’s plot.
We begin at the beginning, however, with a childhood that knew abuse, denial and bigotry. Despite this, Nancy grew up. Then, as a young woman, she was packed off to relatives in New York. They immediately try to remake her in their own image, but her interests are aroused by an acrobatic character she meets in the street. He inhabits a part of the city unknown to her well-heeled hosts. He has the unlucky first name of Chance, and Nancy takes it to become Mrs Brewster.
Chance is on the edge of the city’s cultural life. The couple hobnob with writers and other who claim insights into the human condition. Nancy meanwhile becomes a mother and makes a home. She is a giving sort. But the daughter, Eleanor, is a source of concern. Events conspire further to spell danger for the household. There are crises.
Via a mutual friend the Brewsters meet Charles and Isobel. They live abroad, but a change of circumstance brings them to the Brewsters’ cottage in New England as lodgers. The rambling house proves too small for everyone and, according to the record, Nancy suffers a breakdown of sorts, a catastrophe that starts her fifteen year incarceration in institutions. There is a twist, by the way. But, as a result, her own daughter never again entrusts her with the care of her own children.
The Telling is eventually a satisfying read. But I repeatedly felt themes surfacing and then sinking back to the depths, lost, ignored and out of mind. For me it was a novel that lacked coherence. Nancy’s childhood experiences, for instance, were vividly portrayed. One felt there would be consequences, but they were apparently forgotten. By the end I was mildly disappointed by the claim that much of the material was based on the lives of named people. I felt this added nothing to the book or its ideas. These are fairly small criticisms, however, because The Telling remains a worthwhile read.
August 14, 2017
The author, Miranda Seymour, was inspired to write this novel after she interviewed Katherine "Kit" Jackson for her biography of poet/novelist Robert Graves. Graves and his mistress, Laura Riding, spent the summer of 1939 living with journalist Schulyer Jackson and his wife, Kit. By the summer's end, Laura Riding had left Graves and had pulled off a heartless scheme that destroyed the Jackson family. The novel follows Nancy Parker Brewster (the fictional version of Kit Jackson) from childhood through old age. The novel is written in the form of Nancy Brewster's memoir which her psychiatrist has suggested she write as therapy to help her over her past. The story line necessarily bounces between past and present, but the chapters are labeled with dates.
It is clear from the earliest chapters that Nancy struggles with depression and post-traumatic stress. She marries a ne'er-do-well writer/editor and lives a bohemian lifestyle first in Greenwich Village, then in New Jersey and then in New England. Throughout the marriage, she supports her husband with a trust fund and inherited property. Her personality issues wax and wane with the stresses of married life and the birth of the couple's children. Meanwhile, her husband becomes involved in a project to edit the works of a messianic Russian spiritualist named Gurdjieff (based on the actual 20th century mystic G. I Gurdjieff). However, he loses interest in the project when Gurdjieff is denounced as a fraud by another messianic figure of sorts, the poet Isabel March. Nancy begins corresponding with Isabel and eventually Isabel comes to spend a summer, bringing along a famous novelist/poet Charles Neville. At this point, pretty much everyone in the novel begins behaving very badly. The saddest thing, though, is that this is precisely the point where the novel follows what actually happened in the lives of the Jacksons, Laura Riding and Robert Graves in the summer of 1939.
Miranda Seymour writes well and has a gifted imagination. She incorporates her research and knowledge of the Graves/Riding/Jackson incident into the novel very well. The reason that I rate this book 3 stars is that Seymour repeatedly refers to Falmouth (which is located at the southern end of Cape Cod) as if it were Gloucester (which is located on Cape Ann to the north of Boston). The distance of the town from Boston and Salem and the existence of a railway between those cities is important to the plot at several different junctures in the novel. As just one example, Nancy Brewster's malnourished granddaughter walks from Salem to Falmouth at night -- a distance of more than ninety miles, not the fifteen miles stated in the novel. The house where the climax takes place is so clearly meant to be in the vicinity of the 17th Century Massachusetts Bay Colony witchcraft trials and is so clearly meant to be north of Boston that the Falmouth setting makes no sense at all. Because so much of this novel is based upon research, the error in geography was surprising (and glaring).
It is clear from the earliest chapters that Nancy struggles with depression and post-traumatic stress. She marries a ne'er-do-well writer/editor and lives a bohemian lifestyle first in Greenwich Village, then in New Jersey and then in New England. Throughout the marriage, she supports her husband with a trust fund and inherited property. Her personality issues wax and wane with the stresses of married life and the birth of the couple's children. Meanwhile, her husband becomes involved in a project to edit the works of a messianic Russian spiritualist named Gurdjieff (based on the actual 20th century mystic G. I Gurdjieff). However, he loses interest in the project when Gurdjieff is denounced as a fraud by another messianic figure of sorts, the poet Isabel March. Nancy begins corresponding with Isabel and eventually Isabel comes to spend a summer, bringing along a famous novelist/poet Charles Neville. At this point, pretty much everyone in the novel begins behaving very badly. The saddest thing, though, is that this is precisely the point where the novel follows what actually happened in the lives of the Jacksons, Laura Riding and Robert Graves in the summer of 1939.
Miranda Seymour writes well and has a gifted imagination. She incorporates her research and knowledge of the Graves/Riding/Jackson incident into the novel very well. The reason that I rate this book 3 stars is that Seymour repeatedly refers to Falmouth (which is located at the southern end of Cape Cod) as if it were Gloucester (which is located on Cape Ann to the north of Boston). The distance of the town from Boston and Salem and the existence of a railway between those cities is important to the plot at several different junctures in the novel. As just one example, Nancy Brewster's malnourished granddaughter walks from Salem to Falmouth at night -- a distance of more than ninety miles, not the fifteen miles stated in the novel. The house where the climax takes place is so clearly meant to be in the vicinity of the 17th Century Massachusetts Bay Colony witchcraft trials and is so clearly meant to be north of Boston that the Falmouth setting makes no sense at all. Because so much of this novel is based upon research, the error in geography was surprising (and glaring).
August 11, 2019
Fascinating but ultimately uneven novel written by a biographer. Based on true events, a lot of what Seymour ultimately chose to invent is problematic AF. Childhood sexual abuse? Child suicide? Like, why just... add that? I'm interested in reading her biographical work now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2012
Wow. That’s all I can say. I finished this novel about two weeks ago and it’s taken this long for me to put my words on the page. This novel is fantastic in the way that only good literature can be; it’s dark, depressing, exquisitely written and filled with compelling characters. My only disappointment is that it took me this long to read it!
Nancy is part of an old Boston Brahman family where she has been ignored and abused by her family. When her brother dies during WWI, Nancy’s life becomes exponentially worse. Her only solace comes when she visits her aunt and uncle in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Sadly, when these visits end, Nancy’s mother sends her to NYC. Once there, she meets Chance. Chance is the epitome of bohemian Greenwich Village (he runs his own publishing company from the printing press in his apartment). But when the couple becomes entranced by philosophical poet Isabel March, there are violent and destructive repercussions for the whole family.
I have to say that when I finished the novel I was even more depressed than at the conclusion of “The Bell Jar”. I had so many complex feelings that it has taken me two weeks to sort through them. While I found the story to be incredibly disturbing, it truly is great literature. The writing is just about flawless, the characters are deep, and the language is beautiful. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book! But if you’re depressed by the end...don’t say I didn’t warn you.
www.iamliteraryaddicted.blogspot.com
Nancy is part of an old Boston Brahman family where she has been ignored and abused by her family. When her brother dies during WWI, Nancy’s life becomes exponentially worse. Her only solace comes when she visits her aunt and uncle in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Sadly, when these visits end, Nancy’s mother sends her to NYC. Once there, she meets Chance. Chance is the epitome of bohemian Greenwich Village (he runs his own publishing company from the printing press in his apartment). But when the couple becomes entranced by philosophical poet Isabel March, there are violent and destructive repercussions for the whole family.
I have to say that when I finished the novel I was even more depressed than at the conclusion of “The Bell Jar”. I had so many complex feelings that it has taken me two weeks to sort through them. While I found the story to be incredibly disturbing, it truly is great literature. The writing is just about flawless, the characters are deep, and the language is beautiful. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book! But if you’re depressed by the end...don’t say I didn’t warn you.
www.iamliteraryaddicted.blogspot.com
September 17, 2014
Wow. That's all I can say. I finished this novel about two weeks ago and it's taken this long for me to put my words on the page. This novel is fantastic in the way that only good literature can be; it's dark, depressing, exquisitely written and filled with compelling characters. My only disappointment is that it took me this long to read it!
Nancy is part of an old Boston brahman family where she has been ignored and abused by her family. When her brother dies during WWI, Nancy's life becomes exponentially worse. Her only solace comes when she visits her aunt and uncle in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Sadly, when these visits end, Nancy's mother sends her to NYC. Once there, she meets Chance. Chance is the epitome of bohemian Greenwich Village (he runs his own publishing company from the printing press in his apartment). But when the couple becomes entranced by philosophical poet Isabel March, there are violent and destructive repercussions for the whole family.
I have to say that when I finished the novel I was even more depressed than at the conclusion of "The Bell Jar". I had so many complex feelings that it has taken me two weeks to sort through them. While I found the story to be incredibly disturbing, it truly is great literature. The writing is just about flawless, the characters are deep, and the language is beautiful. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book! But if you're depressed by the end...don't say I didn't warn you.
Nancy is part of an old Boston brahman family where she has been ignored and abused by her family. When her brother dies during WWI, Nancy's life becomes exponentially worse. Her only solace comes when she visits her aunt and uncle in Falmouth, Massachusetts. Sadly, when these visits end, Nancy's mother sends her to NYC. Once there, she meets Chance. Chance is the epitome of bohemian Greenwich Village (he runs his own publishing company from the printing press in his apartment). But when the couple becomes entranced by philosophical poet Isabel March, there are violent and destructive repercussions for the whole family.
I have to say that when I finished the novel I was even more depressed than at the conclusion of "The Bell Jar". I had so many complex feelings that it has taken me two weeks to sort through them. While I found the story to be incredibly disturbing, it truly is great literature. The writing is just about flawless, the characters are deep, and the language is beautiful. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book! But if you're depressed by the end...don't say I didn't warn you.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews