This book was published in 1990 and it begins with the hereditary Lord Suzy shouting “This is Rape” – his home has been burgled during the night as they slept and he feels violated. He can’t stop talking about it and when he and his wife attend a dinner party soon afterwards he is still relating the experience.
It was an okay read but I was glad that it didn’t take long as it’s only 145 pages. I find Spark’s books to be very ‘curate’s eggish’ – I don’t normally rate books but if pushed I would give this one no more than 2 out of 5. The whole storyline is quite predictable. There are no likeable characters and it really annoyed me that she has a character with red hair who is evil and the fact that she has red hair is talked of by others – “…what malign vibes that girl gives out! That red hair – ”
I had thought that that Victorian habit of giving the bad guy red hair had died out but apparently not with Spark. It’s so lazy, just like giving the baddy in a western a black hat or making the evil person in a modern film a chain smoker. It gives sustenance to those idiots (and there are plenty of them around) who think that it’s acceptable to make denigrating remarks to people simply because of the colour of their hair. They wouldn’t get away with it if they were making remarks about the colour of a person’s skin, so I don’t see why it should be acceptable for hair colour. There are characters in this book who tell the police that a person’s red hair is natural -as if it means it’s a foregone conclusion that they are a murderer.
It all adds to the nonsense which redheads are expected to put up with. I’ve always just assumed that people who do that are sick with jealousy!
They are jealous of us redheads! When I started dating my husband he said he wasn’t sure about me cause I had red hair and he never dated red heads Can you believe that? Ha, I fooled him, he married me didn’t he:)
Peggy Ann,
I’m glad you said that because I have heard people say that redheads don’t have the same problems in the US, obviously not true! My husband’s grannies both had red hair but of course they were white by the time he knew them. His mother had mousey hair and was not amused that he married a redhead! I think Bruce Springstein wrote a song about red haired women.
Silly American question – but what does “curate’s egg” mean? Goggle says, “parts of it were excellent,” is that right? (As I remember, that’s what Peter Wimsey said about his wedding night).
Lisa,
Yes that’s exactly what it means. Some of Muriel Spark’s books are very good and others are just ‘meh’. Some are quite dated I think even although they aren’t that old. I had forgotten that Lord Peter said that – poor Harriet! I must start rereading Sayers my fave is Gaudy Night, but I can’t find my copy. Thanks for dropping by.
BTW The curate’s answer to how his egg was? is supposed to have been good in parts.
Good grief! Is this still going on?
[Valerie, NZ, proud of auburn hair inherited from Arran and Borders ancestry.]
Valerie,
Yes it is still going on, it’s esp. bad for kids at school who get bullied and often nothing is done about it. There have even been advertising campaigns which use red hair as the worst possible thing that could happen. I was reading the letters page of a mag. just last week and a woman who sent a photo of her gorgeous twin baby girls with strawberry blonde hair wrote in complaining that people kept coming up to her and saying never mind maybe you can dye it when they’re a bit older. The mind boggles at their ignorance and nastiness! On the other hand I often have complete strangers coming up to me and telling me my hair is beautiful. I’m sure you’ll have had that experience too. Thanks for commenting.
What!? I can’t believe people give red-heads such grief! I have two female cousins who have the most gorgeous red hair and, yes, I am jealous, but I think them lucky not evil đŸ™‚
Anbolyn,
It can be really horrible esp for kids. I remember a friend’s granny didn’t like her playing with me because of my hair colour! I was an innocent compared with her grandaughter! People with red hair are more likely to have Celtic/Scottish/Irish blood in them so it’s really a racist thing and they can choose which thing it is they’re prejudiced about.