HSBC Galle Literary Festival:

A delightful hour with Joanna Trollope

By Shireen SENADHIRA

On the fourth day of the Galle Literary festival January (18 -22) there was an hour in the afternoon to be in conversation with the well known English author, Joanna Trollope. I must say I had a delightful time listening to her as she spoke about her two books, Daughters In Law and The Other Family at the Halle de Galle. It was indeed enlightening to listen to her read excerpts from these two books in her well modulated voice. One could close one's eyes and it seemed that one was at a conversation at a dinner table in a home in London or at a reading of a will in an office.

Joanna Trollope

Considering the book, Daughters In Law, it is a story of a mother, Rachel, whose husband, Anthony, is a gentle artist who sketches and paints birds. They lived in an inviting coastal homestead and Rachel , who loved being at the centre of her family is fiercely devoted to her three sons all their lives and continues to do so even though they are grown up. The problem arises when Luke, her youngest, gets married and she finds her control is no longer needed and she has to come down from her role of being the undisputed matriarch. As would follow, the three daughters in law want to lead their own lives and worse it was for Rachel when her sons followed suit.

There is Edward, the eldest, married to an aloof Swede, Sigrid and their marriage took place on a Swedish archipelago island. The story unravels and depicts this couple well and though it is not said directly, Rachel and Anthony prefer their more agreeable daughter in law, Petra, wife of their second son. Petra lives near Rachel and Anthony and is able to visit them often with her two little boys and the rambling home of the parents feels alive again.

Drama

The drama in the novel is aptly described at a catastrophic Sunday lunch when Rachel accidentally blurts out what she is thinking to Charlotte, Luke's wife. It is at the moment that Charlotte had announced that she is pregnant and Rachel says, "You've only been married ten minutes. Couldn't you have waited?" What a fitting sentence to titillate the already brewing undercurrents of a family and the in-laws.

Trollope's characterisation of the daughters in law is so well done that though some of them are not so likeable, they are definitely recognisable and the well known battle of the matriarch and the young pretenders continue to spar. There is pessimism in the innate selfishness and solitariness of the individual in her story but all this lies beneath the well groomed surface of the novel.

This is a book that can be read as light fiction in one lazy afternoon but if you look deeper, something of a grim Greek tragedy is played around friendly family dinners. Therefore, it is an intriguing story and Trollope as usual has taken a slice out of life and portrayed it well with an over indulgent mother, a gentle father and independent minded daughters in Law.

Emotions

Looking at the novel, The Other Family, conflicting emotions which are a trait of Trollope's writings, are seen to crackle and spurt from the very first page. This gives the impetus for the story when the singer Ritchie dies leaving behind the members of his two families, the first, Margaret and son Scott up in Newcastle and Chrissie and her three overindulged daughters in London. The reader is also drawn into a situation of modern society and a bereavement.

Chrissie is a sleek woman and she is the one Ritchie left his son and wife in Newcastle and never did contact them again. Chrissie and the three glamorous daughters are in full spate at the funeral, designer clad in black. Unknown to them at the back of the church are Margaret and Scott. The former of the duo is tough, weary and resigned unlike the son. Ritchie's youngest daughter Amy sets eyes on the handsome youth, so like a young version of Ritchie, the singer, and thus the churning of waves of the story begins.

Shocks

Then, it becomes a tale of wills, pianos and shocks and adjustments according to the circumstances that happens. Such elements entwined with the social and psychological detail that Trollope is so expert in portraying in her writings, gives the story a gripping excitement. This is a good tempered novel which salutes reaching out to nature, music, history, or our own selves. It also shows that fiction can be simple to touch the readers and make them feel understood.

Pretty Cotswolds in England is the birthplace of Joanna Trollope. She was born in her grandfather's rectory and felt that Cotswolds was her real home. Mention must be made of her novel, The Rector's Wife which became her first best seller.

Cotswolds may have been the inspiration for this novel of hers. In her stories, Trollope displays a great sense of humour and irony, somewhat like Jane Austen. It must be also noted that the heroine in The Rector's Wife is Anna Bouverie, which is similar to Emma Bovary in Madame Bovary, the controversial novel of Gustave Flaubert in the 19th century.

Anna Bouverie in The Rector's Wife, is a middle aged woman seeking her identity after twenty years of long-suffering marriage. Probably, with no university education how brave of this woman at that time with nothing more than her own sense of dignity, to challenge herself and her choices then and at a place in society where she could expect no support at all? Young women of today have access to feminist role models who help them challenge their life and career choices at earlier and earlier ages.

But at the time of this novel, The Rector's Wife, there would have been many older ladies who would have questioned the way of their lives which was not quite according to themselves but lives enmeshed in the society of the time.

Touching

However, this is an excellent story of how the congregation sees the Rector as opposed to the Rector's wife. It also shows the relationship between the Rector, his career and his family. The book has some very touching parts and the author has her way of writing so that the reader feels the pain of every character in the story.

Trollope is never unkind, not even in her vivid portrayal of uncomfortable human foibles like pride, jealousy and resentment. There is much appeal in the warmth in her stories when one needs an escapism and comfort. She presents the complexities of contemporary issues, such as family issues in a way which makes them accessible. It was Fay Weldon who said that Trollope "has a gift for putting her finger on the problem of the times. She likes to tackle the apparently easy, but really very difficult subjects - how parents get on with children and vice versa - which many a lesser writer prefers to avoid."

However, towards the end of this hour with Joanna Trollope when questions were asked she answered each question eagerly and with a smile.

Someone asked why there was always about 80 per cent of women in the audience or readership, pat came the answer, maybe the men would be more knowledgeable if they read the books.

Perhaps the men don't know what they are missing was a suggestion. It was heartwarming to listen to Trollope saying that it was her first time in Sri Lanka and every aspect of what she had seen was delightful and most of all, the passionate interest displayed by all the literary minded people she met and the how well the people conversed in English.

This is how the hour with Joanna Trollope ran along to the end and we felt we could have gone on for much longer as we enjoyed every moment of it.