The Millstone

But to call it a "treat" is to belittle this wonderful book. Drabble is an uneven author. Her Sea Lady is a brilliant novel that I highly recommend. Other of her works are indifferent or worse, e.g. The Radiant Way (see my review). Well, The Millstone by Drabble is one of the best novels I've read in years. Truly a surprise discovery that I highly recommend. This is a heartwarming and also somewhat tragic story that unfolds with humor, irony, insight, and empathy. The entire novel is told in the first person from the point of view of Rosamund. Rosamund is a diffident young literary woman living alone in London who gets pregnant the first time she has sex, and that quite casually with a casual friend. This book was written in the mid-1960s and reflects the developing and changing attitudes of that era toward sex and life, but still at that time having an "illegitimate" child was not accepted and expected the way it is now. Nevertheless Rosamund, through a combination of diffidence and courage, ends up having her child. Of course, since I was about the same age or a bit younger than Rosamund in the mid-60s, this story rattled my aging memories. It brought many a smile to my wrinkled face, and yes a tear too. Much has changed since the 1960s--Gosh, it was almost fifty years ago. Besides a glimpse into literary London, The Millstone is a depiction of the state of medicine, especially gynecology and pediatrics, at that time. Fortunately medicine has improved vastly both technically and socially. The Millstone paints a very depressing picture of the British National Health Service and the treatment of mothers to be and mothers with sick children. This novel is an indictment of nationalized medicine--but that is only a small part of the story. The best thing about this novel is Rosamund. She comes to life for the reader as a real human being. She is no cardboard character, but a real thinking, loving, fearing human being, as engaging as a character in a Shakespeare play. The Millstone is also a tender and moving exploration of motherhood. I am not familiar with any other work in English that so profoundly and lovingly describes this most natural and indissoluble human relation with such clarity and insight. This reader will not soon forget Rosamund and her little daughter Octavia. What is hard to remember is that they are not friends of mine but only made up characters in a book. Marvelous!

I typically do not gush when speaking or writing about a literary work, but rarely have I ever experienced so much heartfelt concern for the well-being of a fictional character. Drabble endows her main character with a fierce, albeit flawed, sense of individualism and self-sufficiency. She tackles burdens and obstacles head-on and alone, even when help was available for the asking. Drabble also coveys the conflict present within her. Rosamund considers herself a modern and liberated woman, yet she is still bound by the Victorian sensativities she denounces. Her lifelong seach is for true love, but only does she find it in the place, or person, she was not seeking to meet. Commentary: There was a painfully obvious correlation between the rise of the welfare state and the decline of the family. Rosamund could have never done what she did on her own without the welfare state operating in Great Britain, with no welfare state, she would have had to maintain close ties with her family.

I've just started reading Drabble and I loved this book. The writing has verve, the main character is very sympathetic, and her experiences with her child are wonderful. Dive in! She's great.

The Waterfall remains my favorite Margaret Drabble novel, but this one uses a faster pace and even more humor. That humor comes from timing and odd observations, rather than obvious attempts at making readers laugh. For example, just before Rosamund Stacey loses her virginity, her seducer asks, "Is this all right? Are you all right, will this be all right?" Rosamund then tells us "that was it and it was over." You'll hate when this book is over. Rosamund seems like an old friend, and you'll enjoy your visit with her.

This was my second Drabble book and, I gather, one of her earliest works and it is a dilly. The young woman protagonist isn't all that likable but she has character and verve and the writing is excellent. Some scenes propel the reader into a vortex of emotions (watch for the episode in the hospital). What a great read this was!