3. See question inside: Fanny as narrator

[Jen]

3. As the narrator, Fanny is at the center of the novel, but she does not play a major part in the action. Does this help her or limit her in her role as narrator? Why is Fanny’s own romance and marriage reported with few details and little fanfare? How do her attitudes, her choices and her behavior serve as points of contrast to other characters in the novel?

[Eadie]

Fanny is a very believable narrator. Her romance and marriage is reported in few details but there is a 3rd novel in this trilogy entitled 'Don't Tell Alfred' which reveals all about their marriage.

Fanny, as a regular visitor to the Montdores, shares with her readers all of the activities of the Montdore household. She takes a broader minded view, pleased to see people she loves each finding happiness in their own way.

[Anna]

I enjoyed Fanny as a narrator. She was just far enough removed from the action that she could remark about it pretty objectively. However, her position allowed her knowledge on the main characters in the action.

[Jan]

Sashinka wrote: "She makes very different choices to Polly and her marriage is set up as a contrast to Polly's, she has a quiet and uneventful life while Polly's is full of turmoil and drama."

That's an excellent observation, I hadn't thought of Fanny as foil to Polly.

Like you, I thought Fanny provided a certain detachment which gave breathing space to her observations. Her supposed innocence and naïveté create a space in which the people she observes feel secure enough to be indiscreet, and Fanny can deliver to the reader an uncluttered view of life within her class.

Fanny isn't interested in telling us about herself. From the start she is uncomfortable with the idea of being the focus of attention. She prefers to be obscured from view. She is more interested in what she can learn about the people around her. This frees her to describe to the reader what is going on without the intrusion of ego.

She describes her husband as being disinterested in the goings on among her relatives, and uses that as a reason for not mentioning him, and therefore her marriage, more frequently. Her life with Alfred seems settled and harmonious, and the book is about the crises and chaos of her wider family. Fanny is referred to as having been born good by Aunt Sadie, despite her parentage, and she seems the most normal of the lot.

[Diane]

Jan, agree that Fanny was the most normal of the lot. She seemed the cornerstone of the family. Fanny and Polly were close but complete opposites.

[Kristel]

It is an interesting way to tell the story. Fanny tells the story but it really is about Polly as was the other one, The Pursuit of Love, about her friend Linda.

Because Fanny was so level headed, she made a reliable narrator.