Family and Friends – Anita Brookner (1985) 187 pages
Many years ago I read Anita Brookner’s Booker-winning Hotel du Lac and although I remember very little about it I remember that I didn’t like it much. Recently I’d begun to think I should give her another try; I suspect my early 20s was a bit too young for Brookner and her incisive consideration of loneliness and disappointment. I was discussing this with a colleague, and so she lent me Family and Friends, Brookner’s follow-up to Hotel du Lac. A novella seemed a perfect way to dip my toe in again, and I’m so glad I did. I loved it.
It is the study of the Dorn family: matriarch Sofka and her children Frederick, Alfred, Betty and Mimi, beginning in the 1920s. The unnamed narrator is gazing at a wedding photograph of them all:
“I find it entirely appropriate that Sofka should have named her sons after kings and emperors and her daughters as if they were characters in a musical comedy. Thus were their roles designated for them. The boys were to conquer, and the girls to flirt. If this implies something unfinished, as if the process were omnivorous but static, that too would be characteristic. Sofka sees her children’s futures as being implicit in their names, and she has given much thought to the matter; indeed, one wonders whether she thinks about anything else.”
Throughout the novel this device is repeated: the photograph with the aging subjects and their relationships unwittingly captured over the years. Brookner’s portraits of her characters are unflinching:
“Betty is one of those women who believe in acting out a passion before they really feel it […] Mimi is not the type of girl who will, or indeed, can, do anything independently. But Betty knows that her mission in life is to be a woman who prevents men from staying with their virgin loves, and she is eager to embark on this career.”
Betty is keen to escape and uses one man to get to Paris – thwarting Mimi’s delicately-held fantasies in the meantime, and being quite aware of doing so – and then another man to get to the States, from where she never returns.
Likewise, Frederick, who is supposed to be running the family empire, flees to the French Riviera with a woman deemed wholly unsuitable by Sofka, but who makes feckless Frederick quite happy and contented. The responsibility of the business therefore falls to Alfred before he is out of his teens:
“He has, above all, obeyed his mother in everything. He does not yet know that men who obey their mothers in everything rarely win the admiration of other women.”
Over the years, perhaps only Frederick is happy. Betty is selfish and untalented, with zero insight and so unable to work out why her life is not evolving as she hoped. Alfred is disappointed in life generally, and delicate, beautiful Mimi is prone to depression.
“She has been questing unconsciously for that man, that alien, that stranger, that appointed one, who will deliver her, the sleepwalker, from her sleep. Thus, in the bosom of her family, Mimi, the good daughter, has been one of the most ready, the most willing, to defect.”
Family and Friends is about precisely what the title says. It is a study of these people over several years, with very little plot other than the typical events of people’s lives, and sparse dialogue. Although Brookner is unflinching, she is not without compassion. She sees plainly, but doesn’t sit in judgement on her characters, despite her clear-sighted discernment of all their weaknesses and the hurt they cause one another and themselves.
Anita Brookner is the ideal writer of novellas. She is so concise, not a word is wasted and every word carries its full weight. Her skill is astounding.
Despite only starting to write novels at the age of 53, Brookner was prolific and produced around a book a year for the rest of her writing life. I’m looking forward to exploring more of these now I know what I’m missing. And first on the list is a re-read of Hotel du Lac 😊
Well, I can’t be entirely objective about Hotel du Lac, since it takes place close to where I used to live, an area I love so much. But yes, I think Anita Brookner is more suitable to later in life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I’m sure I read her too early. What did you think of Hotel du Lac?
LikeLike
Lovely to see a Brookner amongst your selection of novellas, madame bibi. As you say, her style seems perfectly suited to the form – concise, resolute and incisive. I haven’t read this one but hope to do so at some point in the future. A little like you, I feel I’m better placed to appreciate her work now, more able to relate to the lives of her protagonists.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really loved her style in this and its made me keen to read more. Are there any in particular you’d recommend? I hope you enjoy this if you get to it Jacqui!
LikeLike
Look at Me is my favourite of the three I’ve read in recent years. One of my 2019 highlights for sure!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Jacqui, I will look out for it 🙂
LikeLike
This is one of the Brookner novels I have read most recently. I really enjoyed the device of the family photograph. I really must get back to her, I have read a lot of her books but not all of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It worked really well as a device didn’t it? It didn’t feel heavy-handed at all.
LikeLike
I only read Hotel du Lac this year; I liked it though it seemed quite old-fashioned in setting and style. I’d like to read some more and F&F looks interesting.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll be interested to see how I find Hotel du Lac after all these years. This was what she wrote straight afterwards so if you enjoyed that hopefully you’ll like this too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting comment about reading Brookener later in life. Like you, I read her in my twenties ant was left wondering what all the fuss was about but perhaps i should dig what I have off the shelves given what you say about consicion.
LikeLiked by 1 person
She’s really precise, and from reading her obituaries I think she was like that generally in life too (sounds quite intimidating to a waffler like me!) I’d be interested to know how you find her Susan.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve struggled to get to grips with Brookner despite returning to her later in life! Maybe I should try someting other than Hotel du Lac! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, maybe it wasn’t my age but the book 😀 I’ll know when I get round to a re-read!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I think you’re right, Anita Brookner’s fiction is best read a little later on in life:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m looking forward to catching up with her now!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree she is better suited to an older readership. I read Hotel du Lac years ago – too young perhaps. It made sufficient impression that I went on to read several more of her novels, until I couldn’t bear any more of the loneliness that appeared to be her trademark theme. I’d not considered before that her writing is perfectly suited to the novella. And I’m keen to read this one now. I’ll be looking out for your thoughts on Hotel du Lac!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can see that too much Brookner might be tough to take! I’ll pace my reading of her 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve read lots of Brookner (she’s reliable when you want something a little depressing…) but not Hotel du Lac (or this one). I’ll look out for them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Are there any you’d particularly recommend Kate?
LikeLiked by 1 person
I particularly enjoyed Fraud and A Family Romance.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great, thanks! I’ll be off on a Brookner hunt at the library soon…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great review! I also read Hotel du Lac and didn’t much like it in my youth. But then I read Latecomers very recently and was really impressed with it, so I’m giving Brookner another try too. Thank you for your insights!
LikeLike
I’ll look out for Latecomers – thank you for the tip 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think I too read Hotel du Lac too young and often think about re-reading it. I’ll wait to see how you get in with it first, though…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I shall report back 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person