Book Review: Lolly Willowes

[osprey_archer]

A couple months ago skygiants posted about Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Lolly Willowes, and in the comments both littlerhymes confessed that we had meant to read the book for ages, and so of course we instantly popped it on our list as our next buddy read.

It’s a slim book, and we finished it a couple weeks ago, and I’ve been procrastinating on writing a review of it because it’s just such an odd book and I’m not sure what to say.

First: this book has long been grouped in my mind with Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, for no better reason than “mid-twentieth century books dealing with witchcraft??” They are, indeed, both mid-twentieth century books dealing with witchcraft. This comparison is both wildly misleading and sometimes curiously apt, in that they both posit witchcraft and Satan as a potential solution to the repression of Society/the State.

Second: there is no witchcraft at all for the first two thirds of this book. The first section is “This is Laura’s life hitherto,” in which nothing happens despite the fact that there are multiple marriages, births, deaths, and the entirety of World War I, because Laura herself remains completely stationary. The second section is “And then Laura moves to the village of Great Mop! She spends her days wandering the countryside, blissfully happy in her solitude. Still no magic.”

Third: in part three, witchcraft arrives! In the form of a kitten whom Laura decides is Satan. To be honest this worried me, as it seemed more indicative of mental breakdown than magic, but no, Laura is correct and the kitten IS (a messenger of) Satan, and Laura is invited to the witch’s Sabbath.

Another book I had been comparing this to is The Blue Castle. They are similar in that both heroines abandon their oppressive families, but unlike Valancy, Laura is emphatically not in search of new social connections. At the witch’s Sabbath, where you might expect Laura to finally find Her People, she instead discovers that she hates parties just as much as ever after selling her soul to the devil.

And then we wrap up with a section where Laura has a conversation with the devil, wherein she spells out the point of the book, that sometimes witchcraft is the only option for women who fall outside society’s norms, really. The devil listens politely and then walks off. He is the loving huntsman because he makes every effort to win you, and then, having won, leaves you alone, which is all Laura wants anyway.

Comments

[troisoiseaux]

Intriguing! I might have to check this out as well. (I also keep meaning to re-read The Master & Margarita...)

At the witch’s Sabbath, where you might expect Laura to finally find Her People, she instead discovers that she hates parties just as much as ever after selling her soul to the devil.

That's a mood, honestly.

[osprey_archer]

It's a strange, interesting book. Not at all what I expected, because not really like anything else.

Lolly's feelings about parties are very relatable.

[asakiyume]

Satan is the loving huntsman, so what's God then? The unpleasant head of HR who has endless team-building exercises planned?

[osprey_archer]

Unclear, to be honest! One of the ways that Laura's family manages to thwart her every whim is that she wants to try out the services at a lot of different churches in London, so it's not like she's anti-Christianity, or even aware that she's looking for Satan until he walks into her parlor in the form of a kitten.

[littlerhymes]

The way we stopped after the first two sections and were like "ok still no Satan???" But a fascinating read!

The Blue Castle except she is alone forever (positive).

[osprey_archer]

The pacing is so odd! If you go into it knowing there's witchcraft, you're wondering where the hell is the witchcraft, and if you go into it without that knowledge it must be VERY strange to get a hundred pages of reasonably ordinary English spinster fiction... and then suddenly the kitten bites her finger and somehow she's sold her soul to Satan? WHAT. Is it truly that easy to sell one's soul to Satan. A bit worrisome tbh, clearly one could do it by accident.

Alone forever, but in a good way!

[silverusagi]

she instead discovers that she hates parties just as much as ever after selling her soul to the devil. … The devil listens politely and then walks off

Well. This book sounds fascinating!

[osprey_archer]

It is! It's very strange, and despite my repeated attempts to compare it to other books, it's not really like anything else.

[marginaliana]

Okay, I really want to read this now.

[osprey_archer]

It's such an experience.

[hunningham]

My book club read this (my choice) and people were utterly flummoxed by the witchy stuff. It's not mentioned on the book jacket (unless you count "Laura makes some unexpected life choices" which does not usually indicate main character decides to sell her soul to Lucifer) and no one was happy about this hard left turn into witchcraft. Lots of "..but what does it mean?", and "it's obviously symbolic". Symbolic of being a witch, I guess.

Only book which had a worse landing was The Blue Flower, by Penelope Fitzgerald.

[osprey_archer]

I went into it knowing that there was going to be witchy stuff and felt flummoxed that it took so long to arrive, but it must be even more discombobulating to go into it unaware of any impending witchy stuff, reading along this pleasant chronicle of English life between the wars, a sort of predecessor to Miss Read... and then suddenly there's the kitten and she's sold her soul to Lucifer and what. what. What IS this.

[regshoe]

It is an odd book, and I love it for its oddness :D I do wish I could have read it without knowing that it was about witchcraft; that twist would have been an amazing one to experience after going through those first two-thirds of the book not knowing it wasn't going to stay mundane. It does reward re-reading, though: I think there's a lot of sort of hinting at the supernatural turn in the early part of the book, which I love as an instance of that borderland between mundane and fantasy fiction that I always find fascinating.

At the witch’s Sabbath, where you might expect Laura to finally find Her People, she instead discovers that she hates parties just as much as ever after selling her soul to the devil.

I LOVE this bit, and Laura's happiness and fulfilment in solitude in general.

[osprey_archer]

Laura is so done with other human beings and she REMAINS done with them. An unsuspecting reader might imagine that she is going to kindle a romance with Mr. Saunter, the chicken farmer of about her own age who she muses is the first real man she ever met, but nope! He disappears at the end of part two never to be heard from again.

[regshoe]

Aww, exactly, and it's great :D