Dave's Book Blog: "Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont" by Elizabeth Taylor

Saturday 25 May 2024

"Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont" by Elizabeth Taylor

This exquisite little book was shortlisted for the 1971 Booker Prize. It was number 87 is Robert McCrum's hundred best novels of all time.

Mrs Palfrey, widowed, becomes a long-term resident of London's Claremont hotel, a place where old people, mostly women, eke out their lives in as much gentility as they can afford, obsessed with the menu and fighting the twin evils of boredom and decrepitude.

Mrs P's place in the pecking order is threatened by the fact that nobody ever visits her, despite the fact that she boasts of a grandson living nearby. So after a chance encounter, she pretends that Ludo, a penniless writer, is the grandson. Just over half way through the book the inevitable occurs.

The sub-plot, concerning Ludo the wannabe novelist, offers a little hint that there is cultural change coming with the next generation: this novel is set in London in the 1960s.

This short novel rivals Jane Austen in its elegance of prose style: her punctuation, her word placement and the occasional use of discordant but perfectly aimed adjectives are delightful, and very much in line with the context. There are also meticulous, sometimes laugh-out-loud observations and some wicked asides, such as: "The backs of hotels, which are kept for indigent ladies, can't be expected to provide a view, she knew. The best is kept for honeymooners, though God alone knew why they should require it." (Ch 1)

There are times when the narrative reeks of loneliness, wistful memories and ennui like the mingled smells of urine and over-cooked cabbage The prevailing tone is one of gentle sadness.

"I must not wish my life away, she told herself; but she knew that, as she got older, she looked at he watch more often, and that it was always earlier than she had thought it would be." (Ch 1)
"Menus offered a little choosing, and satisfactions and disappointments, as once life had." (Ch 2)
"He had a glass of wine on the table beside him, but did not touch it. He sat patiently still, with his hands on his knees, as if waiting for the drink to drink itself." (Ch 2)

The characters are beautifully drawn. Mrs Arbuthnot fears bending up in a cheap nursing home, the inevitable end of her crippling arthritis. Mrs Post wants to be noticed. Mr Osmond wants a friend. Ludo, also lonely, woos not-so-hard-to-get Rosie and dutifully visits his mother. One of the things that makes this book stand out is that the characters could so easily be caricatures but they never do, even when Taylor is having fun at their expense. There are no goodies and baddies; there is sympathy for those who behave badly; after all, Mrs Palfrey, as well as being strong and stoical, has been weak enough to lie.

Selected quotes:

"She would have made a distinguished-looking man and, sometimes, wearing evening dress, looked as Lord Louis Mountbatten might in drag." (Ch 1)
"Her face had really gone to pieces, with pouches and dewlaps and deep ravines, as if a landslide had happened." (Ch 2)
"One can always read a good book twice ... In fact one always should read a good book twice." (Ch 3)
"'Well, another Sunday nearly gone,' Mrs Post said quickly, to cover a little fart. She had presence of mind." (Ch 5)
"As they aged, the old women seemed to become more like old men, and Mr Osmond became more like an old woman." (Ch 6)
"The callous traffic swept down Cromwell Road." (Ch 7) There are some fascinating adjectives.
"As one becomes older, life becomes all take and no give. One relies on other people for the treats and things. It's like being an infant again." (Ch 13)
"When one's old, Mr Osmond suddenly marvelled, no one calls you by your Christian name. You might just as well not have it." (Ch 15) This would have been an interesting and astute observation, but the use of the verb 'marvelled' really highlights it.
"There is always the one who offers the cheek and the one who kisses it." (Ch 15)