Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 26, 1994 TAG: 9406190147
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: E4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The dust jacket notes favorably compare British author Barbara Whitnell to Maeve Binchy, Rosamunde Pilcher and Anne Rivers Siddon. The comparison is apt. Whitnell's characters, plot and setting invite just such a view.
Set in England and Cornwall in the 1930s and `40s, "Charmed Circle" relates the coming-of-age story of Rachel Bond, a shy and lonely young woman. Her parents live in faraway Uganda so her boarding school breaks are spent with strict grandparents. The novel's title refers to their nextdoor neighbors whose casual sophistication and closeness stir envy in Rachel as she yearns to be part of the "charmed circle" of the Rossiters and their four children. Becoming friends with the younger Rossiters, Barney and Alannah, Rachel secretly loves their elder and very glamorous brother Gavin while feeling distanced from their equally elegant older sister Diana.
Only when, years later, Rachel again encounters Gavin does she feel truly a part of the Rossiter family. Surprises, however, await her as she becomes increasingly drawn into the seemingly perfect family. Whitnell tells her story in flashbacks from the `40s looking back into the `30s. At the heart of the story lies the mystery of Tess, Rachel's baby daughter, whom Rachel is determined to raise on her own in spite of society's disdain. The background of England at war adds further to an enjoyable novel and its memorable characters.
- HARRIET LITTLE
\ Down from the Pedestal. By Maxine Harris. Doubleday. $22.50
Maxine Harris, a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, adds another component to the growing body of feminist psychology. Her major thesis is that even today, women are encouraged to conform to "images," universal ideals that offer rigid models for living one's life. Young women, for example, may be caught up in the ideal of the Eternal Girl, the Dutiful Daughter, the Free Spirit, the Charmer, or the Lolita. The images for midlife and older women are different but equally constricting - the Faithful Wife, the Happy Homemaker, Supermom, the Career Woman or the Sweet Old Lady, the Grand Mother, the Witch, the Wise Woman.
Because they are prized by families and friends, and applauded by the culture, conformity to these images provides women with love, approval and security. But because they are fixed and absolute, the leave little room for growth or individuality. Instead of trying to live life in conformity to a predetermined image, Harris encourages women to look for +themes+ that are appropriate to each stage of life - preparation and anticipation for the younger woman, creativity and nurturing for the woman in middle life, and integration for the older woman. Thinking of life as a working out of these common themes, one may still view it as an unfolding story with its own individual plot.
This is not a book of profound new insights. It is, however, readable and encouraging. It should help readers to discard their guilt for not measuring up to the unrealistic ideals.
- MARY WELEK ATWELL
Harriet Little teaches at James River high school.
Mary Welek Atwell teaches at Radford University.
by CNB