THE FRIENDLY YOUNG LADIES [Paperback]

Mary Renault (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Virago Press (1993)
• ASIN: B000HEOOYM
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Suprising Fun -- if you just go with it, April 6, 2008

By 

anonymous - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Friendly Young Ladies (Paperback)

I read this book after being told Sarah Waters pilfered the charachters of Helen and Julia from "The Night Watch" from it. (To which I say, sort of, but with Waters, it's always more complex.)

The book starts slow. The first time I read it I skimmed the first 50 pages, covering a sweet, dull teen named Elsie. The book hits its stride when she runs away from home and to her sister Leo's home on the Thames. Leo's a 28 (?) year-old tomboy who writes cowboy novels under the pen name Tex O'Hara. Easygoing and cool, she whiles away her days with her girlfriend (take note, Night Watch readers - named Helen) on their little houseboat. The book is striking for its casual portrayal of the couple's lesbianism. It possesses a freedom and assurance that has not been doubled since. Nobody (thankfully) seems to give much of a damn about it - least of all the women themselves.

Renault throws in a twist with the sudden attraction between Leo and her male writing friend of many years, Joe. (She doesn't say it in the afterword but I suspect she did it to escape the censors banning her book like Radclyffe Hall's). But considering this book came out ONLY 15 YEARS after the soppish Well of Loneliness, it feels effervescent and postmodern. The ending is "silly," as Renault herself admitted, but this is still a cool, chill glass of the future. The afterword itself is worth the price of admission.

14 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not one of Renault's best, August 7, 2005

By 

Drake-by-the-Lake "movie critic" (State of Euphoria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Friendly Young Ladies (Paperback)

This book is the most autobiographical that Mary wrote. I won't go into any explanation of this, but if you read one of the biographies about her life, you won't need my help to find the similarities.

A huge weakness I have discovered so far is excessive narration and explanation of each character's emotional state, a fault Mary generally avoids in later novels. I really didn't need a minute-by-minute update of Elsie's fears and anxieties. At first this was interesting, but rapidly becomes annoying and redundant, as the characters are ruled by pretty much the same thoughts throughout.

Mid-way through the book, I just gave up and quit. Elsie is a total bore, a silly timid girl scared of her own shadow. When I started skipping paragraphs describing her doings and thoughts, I realized the book had ceased to entertain or enlighten. Leo and Helen are more original, but Mary just doesn't give them enough play.

And for Chrissakes, let the characters speak, instead of modifying their every pronouncement with a description of their emotional state. Such as - "She said, without sincerity." Or, "She said, with trepidation."

You may want this book to see how a great author like Renault started out writing boners. Writing is damned difficult work, and the only way to get good is to just keep doing it over and over throughout the years. It is one skill that seems to improve with age, unlike everything else.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Satisfying Read, December 3, 2006

By 

Sophia (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Friendly Young Ladies (Paperback)

This book is a favorite of mine. Its charm comes from youthful energy and emotional excess. The autobiographical element may account for the vivid setting on the river and the behavior of some of the characters. They seem like real people whom the author cannot control. They may confuse or annoy her (and the reader), but they are alive.
And then there is the love story. The friendship of two very likeable people unexpectedly intensifies, overwhelming both them and the reader. Very satisfying.
Mary Renault surely polished her craft over a long successful career, but this youthful effort has a spirit and immediacy that has held up remarkably well and still gives me a great deal of pleasure.