Harnessing Peacocks [Hardcover]

Mary Wesley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1986

Mary Wesley creates one of the most enchanting heroines of recent literature in this story of independence, wit, and sensuality. Nineteen-year-old Hebe flees her family to avoid the forced abortion of her illegitimate child. What follows is at times poignant, touching, and in the end, surprising.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

So disarming is this novel by the author of The Camomile Lawn, that its spoof of a plot and its spiral of coincidence don't matter a bit. It concerns Hebe Rutter (Hebe, messenger of the gods, the peacock-harnesser of the title), chef extraordinaire and founder and sole member of the Syndicate, an exclusive club patronized by rich young men enamored of Hebe and her sexual gifts. A laid-back beauty of impeccable lineage, Hebe supports her 12-year-old son Silas, father unknown, by replacing full-time cooks when they are on vacation from the English country houses where they are employed. Thus she meets and ensnares the young sons of the household, sometimes married, often her collateral relatives, since her familywhich quite literally showed her the door when she turned up pregnantis connected to almost everyone of social stature for miles around. One of Hebe's part-time employers inadvertently becomes part of the unspoken plot to legitimize Silas. The boy's father keeps Hebe and the reader waiting while suspense mounts, but, happily for these beguiling characters, everything comes right in the end.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Despite a somewhat melodramatic start this is an entertaining tale about an unconventional young Englishwoman and her friends, lovers, and son. As a teenager pregnant Hebe had run away from home to bear her child and create a new life. Now, 12 years later, she is living in a seaside town, working alternately as a gourmet cook and a prostitute, and doing both on her own terms and with flair. Hebe's son is having a rough time at the pretentious upper-class school his mother sends him to. A change in his summer vacation plans sets things in motion as Hebe's assorted acquaintances meet up unexpectedly, and her discreet-seeming existence goes wildly askew. Eventually, character triumphs, and snobs receive their just desserts. Coincidental meetings aboundbut Britain is a small island, after all. First published at 70, the author achieves comic turns and lively pacing that belie her age. Laurie Spector Sullivan, Regis Coll. Archives, Weston, Mass.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1ST edition (April 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684186373
• ISBN-13: 978-0684186375
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #421,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gentle, English comedy-of-manners, July 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Harnessing Peacocks (King Penguin) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Harnessing Peacocks" is one of my all-time favorite books. In some ways, it's a typical British comedy-of-manners, but with terrific, quirky characters and a gentle, romantic plot.

Teenaged Hebe runs away from the home she shares with her grandparents when she overhears them and her bossy older sisters plotting to get her an unwanted abortion.

We see her again as her son, Silas, is growing old enough to question his background. His mother has raised him on her own, cooking for wealthy elderly clients and "tarting" (as she calls it) for several selected men, to be able to provide him with the same upbringing she had. She is smart, fiercely independent, and vulnerable (although she doesn't realize it).

One of my favorite things about this book is Wesley's wonderfully quirky and complex characters.

If you enjoy other authors such as Barbara Pym, Laurie Colwin and Jane Austen, I think you will enjoy this book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad read, but don't expect thoroughgoing farce--, March 15, 2001

By 

Allen Smalling "Constant Reader," (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harnessing Peacocks (King Penguin) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Harnessing Peacocks" is a sometimes comic, sometimes slice-of-life novel about a prostitute who takes up gourmet cookery and earns money at both so she can send her child to a fancy boarding school. With great effort she keeps her personal and private lives separate. You know, of course, the dam has to break at some point or there wouldn't be a book.

Perhaps it's just my American impatience but I thought the book took too long to get off the ground. Characters' habits and daily activities were explored more than necessary and by the time the farcical elements got going, I felt relief more than enthusiasm. Still, the writing was excellent and the characters were well drawn. I can see why Wesley is a popular author in her native Great Britain.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book! Very warm and romantic ! I love it., May 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Harnessing Peacocks (King Penguin) (Mass Market Paperback)

A very heart warming story to give you hope on a cold and miserable day