Anglican Women Novelists edited by Judith Maltby and Alison Shell (T and T Clark, London, 2019). Pbk. £25.19.
The narrator in Rose Macauley’s last novel, The Towers of Trebizond, a young woman who finds herself slipping into agnosticism, reflects on the power of Anglicanism: ‘Once Anglicanism is in the system, I think that one cannot get it out; it has been in my family heritage for too many centuries, and nothing else, perhaps, is ultimately possible for us.’ I know just what she means; although I left the Anglican fold some years ago, I still feel a strong connection with the tradition in which I was raised and often find the words of the Anglican liturgy (1662 style) and hymns coming to mind.
Anglican Women Novelists comprises thirteen essays focussing on women novelists, each influenced and shaped by her Anglican faith, and demonstrates the peculiar power of this particular version of Christianity. This collection of essays, edited by Judith Maltby (Reader in Church History at Oxford) and Alison Shell (Professor of English at University College, London), shines a spotlight on a selection of female novelists united by their Anglicanism, each portraying the tradition from her own very individual perspective. The novelists featured in this collection demonstrate the range of theologies, convictions and devotional practices people can hold while still being part of the same Church Some readers might be surprised at the omission of England’s archetypal Anglican novelist, Jane Austen. However, the editors explain that she falls outside their chosen historical trajectory, which ranges from Charlotte Bronte to P D James. In her introductory Chapter, Maltby issues an invitation to future scholars to extend the range geographically and at both ends of the chronological spectrum. This could be an intriguing enterprise and I would nominate Susan Howatch (for her Starbridge series) and Catherine Fox. Agatha Christie too deserves inclusion, though her omission is partially remedied by frequent references in the essay on P D James.
The novelists chosen were all well known in their time. Some, such as Charlotte Bronte, Dorothy L Sayers, Iris Murdoch and P D James, continue to be read avidly. Barbara Pym, who published novels regularly from 1950 to 1961, became widely known when her novel Quartet in Autumn was nominated for the 1977 Booker prize. Although she did not win the Prize, her back catalogue was re-published and she has since acquired many loyal followers.
This book presented me with some surprises. For example, I was unaware that Evelyn Underhill was a novelist, as I have always associated her only with non-fiction works on mysticism.
Similarly, Monica Furlong, a respected journalist, who was involved with the foundation of the Movement for the Ordination of Women (MOW) and wrote regular columns on religious affairs in the Spectator and the Church Times, also wrote three novels and a trilogy for children. Noel Streatfield, who is forever associated with Ballet Shoes and other children’s fiction, also wrote sixteen novels for adults.
The essay on Iris Murdoch by Peter S Hawkins begins: ‘To an extent unmatched by any other British writer of her time, Iris Murdoch devoted her creative life to thinking about religion and, in particular, its decline.’ For all the importance Iris Murdoch accorded religion, Hawkins admits there is no easy way to characterise what kind of believer she was, or how she imagined that the austerity of ‘The Good’ could gain the magnetic force once exerted by God.
In 1970 Murdoch wrote, ‘Christianity has not been abandoned so much as simply unknown.’ Whether acquaintance should be recommended to today’s younger readers, if only for its important cultural value, seems a good proposition for SOF to consider.
For anyone interested in women writers and religion – particularly its Anglican form – this is a fascinating read which deserves not one, but multiple readings. In some of the essays, time is spent on a precis of plot narrative; this level of detail is usually essential to a full understanding of the points the essayist is making and the reader needs to slow down and be patient. My first reading has, of necessity, been far more cursory than the book deserves. Each essay needs to be savoured and I shall certainly re-read each one at leisure when I have submitted this review. I particularly enjoyed the essays on Dorothy L Sayers, Iris Murdoch, P D James and Barbara Pym but this may be because they are some of my favourite authors. Anglican Women Novelists lives up to the blurb on the back cover and I recommend it to readers of Sofia.
Carol Palfrey is the convenor of the Norwich SOF Group and Secretary to SOF Trustees.