The librarything Virago group are reading Margaret Kennedy novels during October, and so last month I went in search of something to read for it. I bagged myself a 1955 edition of The Oracles. I was delighted when it arrived, to find it was absolutely pristine. I couldn’t help but wonder whether it had even been opened at all, in the past sixty years. It turned out to be quite an unusual story, but one that is very engrossing.
The Oracles tells the story of the small community of East Head, somewhere off the Bristol channel, and the chain of peculiar events that are visited upon its inhabitants in the wake of a large storm. The storm came on a Saturday night, returning on the Sunday, causing damage to the power station and extinguishing lights all over the small town. The ferocity of the storm caused fright and unease among the people of the town, bringing back memories of the air raids during the war. The only damage was to an old tree in the middle of a field behind the town.
The tree was the playground of a group of neglected children – the children of artist Conrad Swann and his girlfriend Elizabeth – five children, two families brought together in what the locals consider scandalous circumstances. Here the children built dens among the branches, hid themselves from the strange forms that Conrad created, made believe and fought the demons of their fertile imaginations that they called the ‘artifaxes’. Serafina is the eldest and has tried to be the little mother to them all – but it’s all getting too much for a child of ten. An old garden chair that the children had used to mount the tree, was twisted into a strange and unrecognisable shape by the lightning strikes, and when the children unknowingly move the strange object to the shed where Conrad had previously stored his much-awaited new sculpture, the stage is set for all kinds of misunderstanding and artistic snobbery.
A young local couple’s marriage is at the heart of the story, Dickie married pretty Christine two years earlier, and they now have an infant son. Dickie has recently become an admirer of artist Conrad Swann, and has even received an invitation to his much talked about party. Christine’s concerns are different to Dickie’s she rather enjoys gathering in the town Pavilion for tea and gossip, her horizons are smaller. Dickie has begun to find her conversation rather limited and has to stop himself from wincing whenever she calls the sitting room, the lounge (nothing wrong with lounge!). Their young marriage is put under severe strain when they find themselves on opposite sides of an artistic wrangle, not really helped when Dickie accuses Christine of being provincial. Christina is hurt, but she isn’t faultless either. Her friend the vicar’s wife tries to talk to her honestly but Christina isn’t quite ready to hear it.
“ ‘You never seem to grow up. You’re still the same complacent little thing you were in High school. It quite shocks me to hear the way you order Dickie about. No wonder he snaps! I don’t want to be disagreeable. But I do think you’re making a terrible mistake. When people marry they… they both change a little, and grow up together, and help each other to face life. But they must be ready to alter their points of view to suit each other. A married couple… they aren’t just two people. They can be one person, in a sort of way; a kinder, wiser person than either of them could have been alone, because two people’s experience has been put in to it…’ ”
The Oracles of the title are a group of provincial art appreciators and intellectuals who pounce upon the former chair, mistaking it for a piece of modern art by Conrad Swann, and set about bullying their fellow townspeople into buying it for the town with public money. The group are led by Mrs Rawson – who is terribly blind in her artistic snobbery.
Meanwhile Conrad goes missing as people gather for a party at his house, on the Sunday evening of the storm. One of the guests is Elizabeth’s husband – Conrad’s best friend and art dealer Frank Archer. It is perhaps surprising that Frank Archer is one of the most level headed, measured characters in the book. It is perhaps less surprising that several of the characters are really quite unlikeable. However, as I have said before – I do rather like, an unlikeable character.
With Conrad nowhere to be found, and without a thought for anyone else, particularly her children, Elizabeth decides to take herself off to London, leaving a bit of money in a drawer for Seraphina. The abandoned children are happy enough to start with – but it isn’t long before they begin to long for someone to come, someone who will look after them, they are hungry and dirty and all alone. Seraphina is eventually forced to take action – if only the grownups arguing and posturing over a piece of art can be made to stop long enough to hear her cries.
“she had little trust in grown-up people but she still retained some crumbs of faith in certain natural laws. Children, so she believed, were never left alone, quite alone, in a house. She had never heard of that happening. There was always some older person, of very little use perhaps, but a symbol of responsibility. Orphans were put into orphanages because it was impossible that children should be in a house alone. Conrad had gone. Elizabeth was going. Somebody, therefore, was bound to come.”
It is the plight of the children – for whom, naturally we feel for most, the lack of care and concern by Elizabeth and Conrad is horrifying – and they never really answer for it either. The story of a piece of old storm damaged debris being mistaken for modern art is one that should be quite funny – but Kennedy makes this a much more complex story than that. One which shows us that she really understands how people work, and how small communities can operate.
The Oracles was an excellent read, a slightly unusual story perhaps, suffused with tension, it’s one I thoroughly enjoyed.
I have had this on my shelf to read for a few years.Not sure if would be a favourite.
I suppose not every book can be a favourite.
I buy books on impulse and if they are cheap.By cheap i mean 50p.
I have enjoyed several of Margaret Kennedy’s novels. Time to look for another one.
I have enjoyed everything I have read by her so far.
To my shame, I’ve yet to try anything by this writer in spite of having seen a number of positive reviews of her work. Something to rectify in the future. This sounds like quite a timely read, especially in light of storm Ophelia. A little different from some of Kennedy’s other novels, would you say?
It was strangely timely. Troy Chimneys was the most different Margaret Kennedy novel I have read so far. With this one I can see some similarities with a couple of her other novels.
I’ve only read on Kennedy, “The Feast”, which I absolutely loved. And I have to say that this sounds like the kind of thing I might like too – will definitely look out for it!
There were elements of this one that reminded me a little of The Feast. It’s a really good read.
I’m glad to finally find someone else reading this book! It’s not my favourite but there were lots of things I loved and I appreciate that it was recognisably Margaret Kennedy and a little bit different too.
Oh yes it’s definitely recognisable as Margaret Kennedy, but it does have its quirks. The Constant Nymph remains my favourite.
This does sound like an intriguing premise – almost something that Robertson Davies might write. I do like an abandoned child, if you know what I mean. A good centre for a novel. Well done on keeping up with these author months, too. A great idea, isn’t it!
It’s been a great reading event, and I have only failed on one month so far.
I was all prepared for this to be funny, when you mentioned the Oracles mistaking the chair, but it’s interesting that it is rather more complex than that. Thanks for covering one of her lesser-known books!
Yes although it’s a comedic situation, the novel is much less funny than it sounds.
[…] almost all the details of a Kennedy novel, but she is still fab. I hadn’t heard of either The Oracles or A Long Time Ago but Ali and Jane have written about them this week. Two blog posts – […]
What a lovely find, in such perfect condition! I’ve only read one of her novels, but this sounds a million miles away from it. Well, that’s what makes so many of the VMC authors interesting: how widely they were writing, in terms of style and voice, right until they were (nearly) forgotten.
There are some big differences in her novels, although I also see some familiar traits.
[…] group had selected Margaret Kennedy as the author of the month – and I found myself engrossed in The Oracles, a fairly unusual novel in some respects, but one in which I could see echoes of other Margaret […]