Shelved Dreams in Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop - Page 2
© Pamela St. Clair
However, upon the advice of Edmund Brundish, the ornery long-time denizen of the town, Florence decides to prominently display and sell the recently published and controversial novel Lolita, and business booms along with the wrath and envy of disgruntled fellow merchants. Brundish, as his thick Saxon surname intimates, is the brutish and no nonsense but esteemed pillar of the community. He scorns Violet Gamart and shuns invitations to her social gatherings. When Brundish offers a rare invitation to Florence to visit him for tea, the gossip quickly reaches Violet and solidifies her determination to undermine Florence. Later, Violet appeals to Brundish to share her interest in maintaining the previously undesirable Old House, in the name of historical interest, as a structure that could be put to better use. Brundish retorts, "Old age is not the same thing as historical interest...Otherwise we should both of us be more interesting than we are." Such caustic and humorous repartee typifies the characters' conversations and general observations. Between the deadpan humor and the unique rural characters, The Bookshop is like a weird but recognizable amalgamation of Cold Comfort Farm and Bob Newhart.
Both Florence and the narrator share this same sarcasm and wit; hence, it's difficult to separate the two voices. And since the narrator's opinions mirror Florence's, they do not feel obtrusive. Rather, they contribute to the inevitability hinted at in the opening pages.
The following quote has been attributed to Fitzgerald: "It's very good for an idea to be commonplace. The important thing is that a new idea should develop out of what is already there so that it soon becomes an old acquaintance. Old acquaintances aren't by any means always welcome, but at least one can't be mistaken as to who or what they are." In The Bookshop, the old acquaintances are universal. They are recognizable for the different greedy and ruthless facets of human nature that they represent. Thus, when events steamroll ahead and neither Florence nor the narrator is surprised, the ending remains poignant, even though satire and sarcasm buffer the unhappy denouement.
,In honor and memory of Penelope Fitzgerald, who passed away in May, this month's column will review her novel The Bookshop. Fitzgerald was a late literary bloomer; she began writing and publishing novels (two completely different activities) when she was in her 60's. Offshore won Britain's Booker Prize in 1979, and The Blue Flower was awarded the National Book Critics Circle Prize in 1998.
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