Devoted Ladies (Molly Keane)

[el_staplador]

In my head I keep a list of Awkward Party Scenes in Queer Lit, and Devoted Ladies has swept into the top three. It comes in below Curious Wine, because at least there are no excruciating party games you can't opt out of, but above The Charioteer, because the horrible dynamics of other people's relationships are played out in public. Although at least it's over quicker and you have a hope of working out what's going on.

Devoted Ladies opens with this Awkward Party Scene - and partner abuse. Jessica chucks a bottle at Jane. And things don't really improve. It's particularly unsatisfying from a Queer Lit point of view since, in addition to the above, ( spoilers for the entire book )

This is one of those books where absolutely everybody is absolutely horrible. Like Mapp and Lucia but much less good-natured. I enjoyed the cynical take on bohemian London, and the self-deprecating portrait of the writing process (the author gives her own books cameos, and isn't very polite about them). I also enjoyed the contrast between bohemian London and the decaying Anglo-Irish aristocracy. (Oh, there's also a fox-hunting scene, which may be a deal-breaker for some.) But I really wouldn't recommend it to someone who was after something cheerful and queer-positive.