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The Juniper Tree

Barbara Comyns

Start date: October 1, 2020

Finish date: November 1, 2020

Discussion: 2020 Reads

Why we're reading this: Fall 2020 Binge--Barbara Comyns
[close] Fall 2020 Binge--Barbara Comyns

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2020 Reads

* OCT/NOV Binge: BARBARA COMYNS
By Lark · 60 posts · 40 views

last updated Feb 03, 2021 11:48PM

* WHO WAS CHANGED AND WHO WAS DEAD by Barbara Comyns
By Lark · 26 posts · 22 views

last updated Oct 29, 2020 11:22AM

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What Members Thought

Jan 13, 2023 Lark Benobi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: uk, 2023, a-dada-review-is-the-best-i-can-do

Reading this book is like being left alone in a big old house with somebody's grandma and she has led an incredibly tough life but was raised not to complain and she is proud of her cherry furniture and her very fine penmanship but she tends to rattle on nervously about what happened to her as a child, during the war. ...more

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Jan 06, 2022 Laura rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I would say this novel is almost exclusively about the pain of a bad marriage. A woman obtained by a man, lifted from her own life, permitted into his for practical reasons of child-care, and then forgotten, neglected almost obscured when he takes an interest in a new young waif with big eyes, interested in art. Margaret Drabble's intro concentrates on the mother/step-mother; fable/fairy story element - which is certainly the plot but not the theme of this novel.

The paragraph above was intended I would say this novel is almost exclusively about the pain of a bad marriage. A woman obtained by a man, lifted from her own life, permitted into his for practical reasons of child-care, and then forgotten, neglected almost obscured when he takes an interest in a new young waif with big eyes, interested in art. Margaret Drabble's intro concentrates on the mother/step-mother; fable/fairy story element - which is certainly the plot but not the theme of this novel.

The paragraph above was intended for an update but somehow transferred to the whole review. I'll let it stand.

This is my first Barbara Comyns - and deserving of the 5 stars. The pace seems to be quite slow throughout with many details and quiet observations, but the slow pace is required to understand all the subtle and manipulative ways in which Bernard works for his needs. His first wife Gertrude has died leaving baby Johnny - and after a series of nannies, Bella is pressured into giving up her own happy existence in her little antique shop in Twickenham and persuaded - let's say pressurised into becoming Bernard Forbes' wife.

But here is the beauty of Comyn's style: this is no harsh feminist rendering of men eternally taking first place; this is a beautifully balanced tale of how it is possible for a bright, independent, thriving young women to be coerced into serving a man's need - a particular type of man. Bernard is no ogre/Beast; he is successful, educated, thoughtful, charming - he woos Bella and delights her with his knowledge and expensive life-style. The honey-moon is to Madrid where they visit the Prado and El Escorial; alongside Bernard's business meetings. He forbids her to visit the famous flea market, which is where Bella's interests lie and instead they spend the day at the Retiro, a lovely park.

Over the course of their marriage, however, Bernard slowly reveals his true colours; there is an incident where he is against Bella receiving an inheritance left to her by a Miss Murray, explaining that it should go to that lady's brother. Slowly, slowly there are more and more incidences of Bernard's appropriation of Bella's time, his disapproval when she wants to store some of her possessions in the basement; but counterbalanced against this is his benevolent attitude towards Bella's illegitimate and 'dark' child Tommy/Marline. Comyn's starkly contrasts Bernard's none racist attitude against the overtly racist and belligerent comments from Bella's mother.

The fable element is something that Margaret Drabble focuses on in her introduction, but it is quite simply the architecture on which the story unfolds. The Grimm's fairy tale, a loose imprint - a bit like the clothes-pegs which hold the washing on the line: The Juniper Tree under which Gertrude sits; the snow-white skin and rosy-cheeks of Johnny, the thieving magpies who are instrumental in precipitating Bella's collapse into madness.

The story also pins on all the positive and supportive relationships Bella has with other women, her friend Mary Meadows, the various nannies hired to take care of Johnny, Miss Rose from the Gallery, etc and how finally the difficult and estranged relationship with her mother is resolved with a very satisfying conclusion.

Yes - this is a forceful feminist text told in the most delicate and delightful way. It was Comyn's last book, which she wrote in her seventies; first published in 1985. ...more

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Oct 08, 2020 Matthew rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nyrb, banrbs-2020-fall-comyns

A strange 1980's pastiche of the classic Grimm's fairy tale of the same name. This one is a slow burn but Comyns' offbeat style and tone make it worth the effort by the end.
...more

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