From The Heart by Susan Hill

JetBlackDragonfly
12 hours ago
2 min read

Olive Piper's mother prayed for three sons but received one daughter with a plain face and spectacles. As a teenager, Olive was tactful and truthful, with a look of open friendliness—everything a young woman should be—living with a father who gives her no notice after her mother dies.

At school's end, her friends plan to join nursing school or the WRAF with the single goal of meeting men. The only idea appealing to Olive was teaching her beloved medieval English literature, and begins study at a London university. She meets Malcolm in the theatre department—he has a nice car and a welcoming family; it's what every girl wants. She also works in the library, realizing the friendship of the head librarian makes her feel puzzled and uneasy.

More than a coming-of-age novel, this concerns the full life of a woman, and Olive faces the result of sharing a bed with Malcolm, finding doctors will only discuss matters with married women, and any talk of contraception was forbidden. She was well past that. On her own, she joins several others in a hospital for adoption, with still no idea of the biological process. She begins teaching literature at Barr School for Girls and bonds with the faculty, especially the head teacher. Her feelings are reciprocated, and it is right. As teachers, they must maintain their secret - until Olive is dealt a spectacular betrayal so harsh that I found it hard to accept.

The cover states "she makes a mistake - the kind any one of us could make" but pregnancy is a small part of this novel. It was a time when no one talked of sexual matters, and is more accurately about a young woman questioning her sexuality - too afraid of that mystery - until accepting herself and flourishing. With a cover that looks like a nondescript romance, this is actually a feminist novel of lesbian life in the late 1950s; the librarians and teachers who recognize and encourage a kindred spirit.

Susan Hill's novels are always recommended by me. Her writing is often spare but direct to the heart of the matter, and I was pleased to find this life of a young woman - compromises and victories and all.

2017 / Tradeback / 224 pages