Harriet Said… was Beryl Bainbridge’s first written novel, although not published until 1972 following A Weekend with Claude and Another Part of the Wood. As Linda Grant says in her introduction to this Virago edition Beryl Bainbridge is a writer whose books have “a black heart to them, in a comic chest.” An apt description I think. This is however, only the second I have read – The Bottle Factory Outing was my first, read for a Beryl Bainbridge reading week in 2012 and had certainly intended to read more Bainbridge before now. I suggested this title to my second, small book group – and I’m so glad I did – we shall have lots to discuss.
Harriet Said… is set in a Liverpool suburb close to the sea and the sand dunes of Formby a few years after the end of the Second World War. It is the long summer holidays, and our unnamed narrator, a thirteen year old girl, returns from the boarding school her parents can’t really afford, and awaits the return of her friend Harriet from a family holiday in Wales. Harriet said… is a frequent refrain, as we learn from Harriet’s friend about their friendship and the balance of power between them. Harriet, slightly older at fourteen, is a too knowing, manipulative girl, she tells her friend what to wear, what to do, what to write in the shared diary kept in Harriet’s room. Her friend, stout and a little clumsy obeys her adored, delicate little Harriet without question. In the days before Harriet’s return, the girl, reacquaints herself with the Formby sand dunes, and the sad, disappointed men who can sometimes be found there. Mr Biggs – the Tsar as he is called by Harriet and her friend is one of these, a golfing buddy of Harriet’s father – a middle aged married man.
“I rolled all the way down the slope and reached the bottom covered with sand, breathless, not from exertion but because the Tsar was sitting by the tadpole ponds with his back to me. I was shy.
The ponds were no more than long puddles of rain-water set in the grass. In winter the rain fell endlessly, the pools thickened, mud formed. When the frost came, the ground hardened, the edges of the pools shrank, the ice pinched closer; the low bushes snapped at a touch, the tall dune grasses froze in clumps. Once, in the centre of the largest pool, Harriet and I saw two frogs, dead, bloated with water floating, white bellies upward, like pieces of bread. Now in summer the water was warm to the touch. I crouched down in the sand and trailed my fingers back and forth waiting for him to speak first.
‘Aah,’ he said, letting out a sigh, as he lay back with his head in the grass, his trilby hat, which he never wore, beside him, its brim dripping in the water.”
From the opening short chapter we know that something has happened, the girls race back to their homes at the end of the summer – although even this is carefully co-ordinated between them. Gradually the story is revealed as we return to the start of the summer holidays when Harriet arrives home.
With Harriet’s return from Wales the girls are thrown together again through the long summer days of school holidays. Harriet has tales of her adventures in Wales, while her friend tells of her meetings with the Tsar. The Tsar is fascinating and repulsive – an object of constant speculation. Pretty, scheming Harriet draws her friend into her plan to humiliate the Tsar. The two girls watch the unhappily married Peter Biggs (the Tsar) and his wife, they chart their progress in the diary – where Harriet leads her friend is quick enough to follow. The consequences of their malevolent games are shocking.
As readers I think we always want to know exactly who the transgressor is – who the victim, fascinatingly, the lines between the two are not so clear here. Biggs is a predatory man – his behaviour is utterly reprehensible – and although never likeable, there is something rather pitiful about him. The reader is not comfortable seeing him in any sympathetic light – we are almost relived when he does something we can despise him for. Harriet is the more malevolent of the two girls; there is a nastiness to her that her friend seems perfectly aware of. Harriet calls her mother Little Woman, speaks in code to her friend over her unsuspecting mother’s head, beguiles the adults around them, and deals with her friend’s mother’s dislike of her with practised calm. Readers who don’t enjoy reading about unlikeable characters will probably not like this book – I rather enjoy reading about unlikeable characters – and Harriet and the Tsar are shudderingly disturbing.
The girls rather over reach themselves – and even Harriet is shocked by how her friend interprets her instructions.
“There were but two weeks left of the holidays. As before at school I had counted the days to the end of term, willing the hours to pass quicker, so now I waited for summer to finish. Shadows of fatigue darkened my face though I went to bed early and slept late each morning. My mother said twice I looked poorly and hoped I was not going to be ill.”
There is a definite feeling that Harriet’s friend begins to want the business of the summer over with – and their destruction of the Tsar is part of that – then things can go back to how they were the summer before, but the genie is out of the bottle – childhood is well and truly over.
This is the kind of book which will divide people – Bainbridge herself struggled to get it published at first – due to the disturbing nature of the characters, but I really enjoyed it. Enjoyed seems the wrong word – yet there is so much to admire in Bainbridge’s writing – a feeling of unease pervades this short novel, which is psychologically very astute – so once started it is difficult to put down.
Sounds like a powerful read and you can see why it had to wait to be published until she had established her literary reputation. Good chewing-over material for your book group, I’m sure!
Yes, though as I’m poorly and need to get back to work tomorrow I can’t justify going out tonight. So the others will have to discuss it without me.
Loved this book. Your review brought it back and reminded me it’s a while since I last read a Bainbridge. Here is my response to it – http://theknockingshop.blogspot.ie/2012/06/harriet-said.html
Thanks for the link. I really must read more Bainbridge.
Love the sound of this one Ali… but then I do love unlikeable characters. Envy the book group chat… sounds like it’ll be a fascinating meeting.
Glad you like the sound of it. Unfortunately illness is keeping me at home this evening.
Sorry to hear that Ali… take care & hope you feel better soon xx
Thank you.
A black heart in a comic chest is a great description of her qualities
Yes I think so.
I’ve been waiting for your review of this one as I thought I’d enjoy it – your review has confirmed that I will – off now to get myself a copy, thank you!
Ooh good, really hope you like it as well.
Great review Ali. I have a copy of this and have wanted tor ead it for some time. It sounds troubling, but perhaps more accurate than always seeing things in black and white – often the divide between victim and aggressor is not so clear.
Yes those greyer areas are what makes this such an interesting little read.
It sounds perfect for a book group discussion. My mother was a bit of a Bainbridge fan, but I’ve yet to try her. Another writer to explore. 🙂
Yes a good read for a book group I think. Always good to find a new writer to explore.
I do love an unlikeable character and it’s been such a long time since I’ve read any Bainbridge.
I now really want to read more.
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