Return to Night by Mary Renault
May. 5th, 2021 04:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
regshoeI read The Charioteer about five years ago and have never really got over it, so now I decided it was time to go back for more. (I'm sure this one will be all right really, I thought...)
(Also, there's a Lolly Willowes crossover on AO3—actually the only LW fic on the site not written either by or for me—which I've been curious about for ages. I had lots of reasons to read this book!)
I'm not quite sure what I was actually expecting from it, and after reading it I'm still not really sure what it actually is. It's a very strange book. (I mean, I love it and it's going to be my fave forever, especially Hilary, but I do not understand it). This may not be the most coherent of reviews, then.
The basic premise: It's 1938. Hilary Mansell is a thirty-four-year-old doctor who trained in brain surgery but has ended up as a GP in rural Gloucestershire due to complications of backstory. One morning she sees 'the most spectacularly beautiful human creature she had ever seen' riding a horse in a wood at dawn. Shortly afterwards the most spectacularly beautiful human creature Hilary has ever seen, whose name is Julian Fleming, falls off the horse and is brought into the hospital where she works. His condition deteriorates and Hilary saves his life by sending him for a brain operation in the nick of time. Time passes, and we and Hilary meet Julian again and learn more about him: he's twenty-three; he owns land in the neighbourhood, where he lives in a picturesque old house with his mother (who, despite Hilary saving her son's life, has taken an instant dislike to her); he's an actor (his mother disapproves of this too, for mysterious reasons); and, upon meeting Hilary again, he's convinced that their meeting at the hospital when he was injured has some deep and mysterious meaning involving caves and that they're meant to be together, or something. Things progress from there.
So 'practically-minded woman doctor/idle pretty-boy actor who's eleven years younger than her' is not really your typical lead romantic pairing, in various ways, and I really enjoyed the way the book subverts a lot of romance tropes and clichés. Especially the clash between the clichéd set-ups and Hilary's rational, scientific outlook (her reaction to the bit quoted above is: she thought irritably, it's ridiculous. It's like an illustration to something). And I loved both main characters, especially Hilary (<33). Most of the book is narrated from Hilary's point of view, and I loved her wry wit, her scientific mind, her blend of self-awareness and... not self-awareness and generally everything about her. I liked Julian a lot too—he could come across as irritating, and is occasionally slightly disturbing, but is mostly delightfully endearing, and actually fairly interesting as a character. Also, the book is frequently hilarious, if often in a rather darkly ironic way (Renault's attitude towards her characters is, shall we say, not that of D. K. Broster). And despite, well, a lot of things, I really did like Hilary/Julian an awful lot. I think it was the scene, fairly early on, where Julian is sitting on the hearthrug at Hilary's feet with his head in her lap while she strokes his hair—feeling for where he had that brain operation, obviously—and also he has a skull, which she's lending him for a theatrical performance, is where it really became an OTP. (Speaking of D. K. Broster, a liking for that specific romantic posture is something she and Renault seem to share). I loved Julian's endearing earnestness, and the contrast between Hilary's slightly condescending amused fondness and the much more serious emotional conflict she undergoes about the relationship.
There's plenty of other stuff to like about the book too. I very much enjoyed the carefully drawn workplace politics at the hospital in the early chapters, and the discussion of Hilary's struggle to succeed as a female doctor in the 1930s (although Renault often comes to the wrong conclusions about it). I liked Lisa, Hilary's gentle and placid landlady with hidden emotional depths, although I felt somewhat sorry for her, and shipped her with Hilary just a little. There are some other great minor characters too—I especially liked Hilary's nephew and his friend with their Oxford gossip about Julian, and Hilary's enjoyment of being an aunt. The book is set in 1938-9 and was published in 1947, and the retrospective awareness of coming war hangs over the whole thing in a very darkly vivid way (including some sad hints about Julian's possible future fate).
The prose is absolutely beautiful. (I mean, of course it is—the style was definitely familiar). There are some lovely descriptions of nature and the Cotswold landscape, to begin with—that scene with the frost, before the hospital Christmas party, is especially memorable—and Renault has such a way of describing incredibly specific little emotional and social details. Several times a page there'd be some image or detail that made me stop and read it over again and just admire the elegance and precision of it. I'm torn between being amazed that anyone can really pick up that much emotional subtlety in ordinary social interactions (I must be more oblivious than I thought), and weeping with envy because I can't write like that. Really, really good stuff. Another memorable feature of Renault's writing is, of course, its opacity. I didn't find this one quite so difficult to follow in places as The Charioteer, but there was still quite a bit that I think I didn't get. Including most of the literary references (although I did laugh at Julian trying to quote 'Westron Wind' in his love letter; I love sentimentally associating that poem with my OTPs).
Besides the basic romance plot, much of the conflict of the book consists of Hilary's attempt to, as the back cover of my copy puts it, 'release [Julian] from his mother's influence, and to restore his broken will'. It's... more or less explicitly spelled out that she does this by becoming a substitute mother to him herself. Or maybe a goddess whom he worships, or possibly a witch who's betrayed him to the powers of darkness, or something. There is a mysterious and rather alarming scene in a cave which is clearly supposed to be deeply meaningful but which does not make any sense. As I said, a strange book.
And the ending is weird. So there I was partway through the book, having an excellent time shipping Hilary/Julian and being rather gleefully relieved that this book wasn't The Charioteer after all, and then it... turns into The Charioteer in the very last chapter. (Frankly, that serves me right and I ought to have seen something like it coming). I mean, I say it turns into The Charioteer—the shape of the plot is very similar; in meaning I don't think it's quite so similar (certainly it doesn't work as a tragedy the way The Charioteer does). But it did seem to undercut a lot of what I'd enjoyed about the relationship until then. I don't like Renault's ideas about love as self-sacrifice made out of pity, and it did seem a shame that Hilary/Julian had to end up that way when I liked it so much earlier on. Oh, and then there's the reveal of why Julian's mother is so dead set against his acting, which is so melodramatic it's difficult to take seriously in what is probably still supposed to be a serious book.
It's all good fun...!
So, overall, a very good one (I think?) and likely to become a long-term favourite. I am actually glad I read it. If I read any more Renault I may try the historical books next—apparently the ones about Alexander the Great are very good. We'll see.
(That Lolly Willowes fic is amazing, by the way—highly recommended!)
(Also, there's a Lolly Willowes crossover on AO3—actually the only LW fic on the site not written either by or for me—which I've been curious about for ages. I had lots of reasons to read this book!)
I'm not quite sure what I was actually expecting from it, and after reading it I'm still not really sure what it actually is. It's a very strange book. (I mean, I love it and it's going to be my fave forever, especially Hilary, but I do not understand it). This may not be the most coherent of reviews, then.
The basic premise: It's 1938. Hilary Mansell is a thirty-four-year-old doctor who trained in brain surgery but has ended up as a GP in rural Gloucestershire due to complications of backstory. One morning she sees 'the most spectacularly beautiful human creature she had ever seen' riding a horse in a wood at dawn. Shortly afterwards the most spectacularly beautiful human creature Hilary has ever seen, whose name is Julian Fleming, falls off the horse and is brought into the hospital where she works. His condition deteriorates and Hilary saves his life by sending him for a brain operation in the nick of time. Time passes, and we and Hilary meet Julian again and learn more about him: he's twenty-three; he owns land in the neighbourhood, where he lives in a picturesque old house with his mother (who, despite Hilary saving her son's life, has taken an instant dislike to her); he's an actor (his mother disapproves of this too, for mysterious reasons); and, upon meeting Hilary again, he's convinced that their meeting at the hospital when he was injured has some deep and mysterious meaning involving caves and that they're meant to be together, or something. Things progress from there.
So 'practically-minded woman doctor/idle pretty-boy actor who's eleven years younger than her' is not really your typical lead romantic pairing, in various ways, and I really enjoyed the way the book subverts a lot of romance tropes and clichés. Especially the clash between the clichéd set-ups and Hilary's rational, scientific outlook (her reaction to the bit quoted above is: she thought irritably, it's ridiculous. It's like an illustration to something). And I loved both main characters, especially Hilary (<33). Most of the book is narrated from Hilary's point of view, and I loved her wry wit, her scientific mind, her blend of self-awareness and... not self-awareness and generally everything about her. I liked Julian a lot too—he could come across as irritating, and is occasionally slightly disturbing, but is mostly delightfully endearing, and actually fairly interesting as a character. Also, the book is frequently hilarious, if often in a rather darkly ironic way (Renault's attitude towards her characters is, shall we say, not that of D. K. Broster). And despite, well, a lot of things, I really did like Hilary/Julian an awful lot. I think it was the scene, fairly early on, where Julian is sitting on the hearthrug at Hilary's feet with his head in her lap while she strokes his hair—feeling for where he had that brain operation, obviously—and also he has a skull, which she's lending him for a theatrical performance, is where it really became an OTP. (Speaking of D. K. Broster, a liking for that specific romantic posture is something she and Renault seem to share). I loved Julian's endearing earnestness, and the contrast between Hilary's slightly condescending amused fondness and the much more serious emotional conflict she undergoes about the relationship.
There's plenty of other stuff to like about the book too. I very much enjoyed the carefully drawn workplace politics at the hospital in the early chapters, and the discussion of Hilary's struggle to succeed as a female doctor in the 1930s (although Renault often comes to the wrong conclusions about it). I liked Lisa, Hilary's gentle and placid landlady with hidden emotional depths, although I felt somewhat sorry for her, and shipped her with Hilary just a little. There are some other great minor characters too—I especially liked Hilary's nephew and his friend with their Oxford gossip about Julian, and Hilary's enjoyment of being an aunt. The book is set in 1938-9 and was published in 1947, and the retrospective awareness of coming war hangs over the whole thing in a very darkly vivid way (including some sad hints about Julian's possible future fate).
The prose is absolutely beautiful. (I mean, of course it is—the style was definitely familiar). There are some lovely descriptions of nature and the Cotswold landscape, to begin with—that scene with the frost, before the hospital Christmas party, is especially memorable—and Renault has such a way of describing incredibly specific little emotional and social details. Several times a page there'd be some image or detail that made me stop and read it over again and just admire the elegance and precision of it. I'm torn between being amazed that anyone can really pick up that much emotional subtlety in ordinary social interactions (I must be more oblivious than I thought), and weeping with envy because I can't write like that. Really, really good stuff. Another memorable feature of Renault's writing is, of course, its opacity. I didn't find this one quite so difficult to follow in places as The Charioteer, but there was still quite a bit that I think I didn't get. Including most of the literary references (although I did laugh at Julian trying to quote 'Westron Wind' in his love letter; I love sentimentally associating that poem with my OTPs).
Besides the basic romance plot, much of the conflict of the book consists of Hilary's attempt to, as the back cover of my copy puts it, 'release [Julian] from his mother's influence, and to restore his broken will'. It's... more or less explicitly spelled out that she does this by becoming a substitute mother to him herself. Or maybe a goddess whom he worships, or possibly a witch who's betrayed him to the powers of darkness, or something. There is a mysterious and rather alarming scene in a cave which is clearly supposed to be deeply meaningful but which does not make any sense. As I said, a strange book.
And the ending is weird. So there I was partway through the book, having an excellent time shipping Hilary/Julian and being rather gleefully relieved that this book wasn't The Charioteer after all, and then it... turns into The Charioteer in the very last chapter. (Frankly, that serves me right and I ought to have seen something like it coming). I mean, I say it turns into The Charioteer—the shape of the plot is very similar; in meaning I don't think it's quite so similar (certainly it doesn't work as a tragedy the way The Charioteer does). But it did seem to undercut a lot of what I'd enjoyed about the relationship until then. I don't like Renault's ideas about love as self-sacrifice made out of pity, and it did seem a shame that Hilary/Julian had to end up that way when I liked it so much earlier on. Oh, and then there's the reveal of why Julian's mother is so dead set against his acting, which is so melodramatic it's difficult to take seriously in what is probably still supposed to be a serious book.
It's all good fun...!
So, overall, a very good one (I think?) and likely to become a long-term favourite. I am actually glad I read it. If I read any more Renault I may try the historical books next—apparently the ones about Alexander the Great are very good. We'll see.
(That Lolly Willowes fic is amazing, by the way—highly recommended!)
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Date: May. 6th, 2021 07:03 am (UTC)And of course to thank you so much for reccing and commenting on my crossover fic – especially precious to have someone appreciate something that was written at the intersection of two super rare fandoms.
Although RtN does have that infuriating, bizarre ending, Renault's prose and characterisation makes me forgive her almost anything. And of course we always have fic!
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Date: May. 6th, 2021 06:53 pm (UTC)Finding two obscure fandoms that go together well is such a fun part of fic writing. And I'm looking forward to the rest of the RtN fic now!
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Date: May. 6th, 2021 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 7th, 2021 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: May. 9th, 2021 10:32 am (UTC)The only Renault I've read is The Charioteer, and I remember that we are fellow Laurie/Andrew shippers. : )
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Date: May. 9th, 2021 06:21 pm (UTC)The only Renault I've read is The Charioteer, and I remember that we are fellow Laurie/Andrew shippers. : )
Oh dear, yes <3 I'll re-read it one day, probably...