Greek Myths

I read this novel with my book club. We have read G.K. Chesterton, Flannery O'Connor, and Ron Hansen, so we are well versed in Catholic authors who have a slightly off-beat view of the world. Alice Thomas Ellis fits right into that mold. Set in post-WWII Britain in the mid-50's, this novel watches the changes that take place among a small community of friends (though none of them would describe themselves as friends) when a young nun comes to stay with them. From the opening paragraphs I found myself reading with a slight grin on my face, appreciating the subtle humor and carried along by the quite visual writing. This is a gem of a story!

In this wickedly dark comedy, Alice Thomas Ellis once again examines the lives of oddball outsiders, people who live in seemingly normal neighborhoods but who never quite belong to mainstream life there. Irene Wojtyla, the owner of Dancing Master House in Chelsea, is descended from Catholics who fled Russia and wandered across 27 lands and 30 countries before finally coming to rest in London, while her sister Berthe has landed Wales, where she is the Mother Superior of a convent. Aunt Irene, the adoptive mother of a tubercular and malicious nephew Kyril, has also been adopted by Focus, a white cat, who vainly attempts to vanquish the rat which constantly taunts and torments him. When the sometimes psychic Aunt Irene agrees to take in a postulant from Sister Berthe's convent, the beautiful, black Valentine, who seems to have mystical powers, Irene casually reclaims the room she has illegally rented to "little Mr. Sirocco," leaving him homeless in order to provide a room for Valentine. Mrs. Mason, whose derelict husband is constantly drunk, serves as cleaning woman in the household, while the nearby O'Connor brothers keep the house supplied with horsemeat and antiquities obtained through thievery.As these eccentric characters move almost randomly around London, the author shows the transcience of life and the strange acts of fate which change lives. Aunt Irene spends much of her time trying to avoid the tax man, Focus keeps trying unsuccessfully to catch the rat, Sister Berthe keeps waiting for an eternally fresh apple picked by Valentine to shrivel, Kyril keeps trying to figure out how to seduce Valentine, and death suddenly intrudes into people's lives. Ellis's study of good and evil incorporates the supernatural as much as traditional religion, giving a fresh view of man's place in the cosmos.As always, Ellis's dialogue sparkles, her characters amuse, and her plot startles with its ironic twists and unexpected turns. Full of word play, literary jokes, and surprising imagery (the "clutching clamminess of seaweed" and the "cash-like clink of pebbles handled roughly by the dying waves"), the novel is full of humorous, sometimes satiric, observations: When a woman is hanged for killing her lover, Aunt Irene wonders what she is doing in a country, "where they wouldn't eat horses but they hanged their women." In describing the Book of Genesis, she comments that Genesis is "the only view that explained, for instance, mayonnaise." More wide-ranging and less tightly focused, thematically, than some other Ellis novels, 27th Kingdom is still vintage Ellis, a pure delight to read. Mary Whipple

This book is full of surprises. It's zany, quirky, and very wise -- all at once. At first the flavor of it -- so different from anything else I'd read -- made me question whether or not I liked it. As I continued reading I acquired a taste for it -- an experience similar to developing a taste for olives.Placing a saint among secular eccentrics in 1950's Chelsea leads to all sorts of irritations for the ordinary mortals. I found myself loving Valentine, the mystical postulant, whose spiritual wholeness embarrasses her convent, bewilders her pursuers, and creates quiet comedy wherever she goes.Here are four little quotes from a scene in which Valentine, on her first morning at Mrs. Mason's, rises early and goes to the kitchen. The author tells us, "Kitchens, being necessary, were as holy as bread and water, and were at their best, in peaceful readiness, at this innocent time of day..." and, "Valentine moved like a fish through water, accomplishedly, barely stirring the silence. It was a trick nuns learned: to be very quiet in case of still small voices." How could such innocent sweetness offend anyone? We find out when Mrs. Mason and her adult son, Kyril, enter the room."'Do you habitually rise before God?' enquired Kyril of Valentine, in the light clear tone that was one of the characteristics that made people want to beat him up.""'Have a croissant, dear,' (Kyril's mother) said to Valentine, momentarily disliking her for causing Kyril to be unkind."If any of this strikes you funny, too, you just might relish this book.