The story of a woman displaced from paradise. For Meg Eliot, life with her successful husband, Bill, was one of elegance and equilibrium. Suddenly, everything changes when Bill is the accidental victim of an assassin's bullet. The author also wrote "Hemlock and After" and "No Laughing Matter".
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Angus Wilson achieved literary notoriety with the publication of his 1953 novel Hemlock and After. It was five years later, however, with the release of his masterpiece The Middle Age of Mrs. Eliot that he secured a lasting place in British letters. This work, a compassionate portrait of a newly widowed women in her mid-40s who wants to do good in a world that does not need her, remains as vibrant and moving as it did 40 years ago. Wilson's prose is smart and his portrayal of self-deception bred of loneliness is deeply disturbing. Yet, in spite of this, Wilson's beautiful use of language wedded to his psychological insights, make The Middle Age of Mrs. Eliot a pleasure to read.
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About the Author
One of Britain's most distinguished novelists Sir Angus Wilson was born in 1913. Educated at Westminster and Merton College, Oxford he joined the British Museum as a cataloguer before being called for service in 1941. His literary career began with a collection of short-stories published in 1949. These were followed by other short-story collections, novels and plays. Co-founder with Malcolm Bradbury of the MA programme in creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Wilson was appointed professor in 1967. Chair of many literary panels, including the Booker prize, and campaigner for homosexual equality he was knighted in 1980. He died in 1991.
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Volunteerism,
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This review is from: The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot (Paperback)
Mrs. Eliot is a volunteer at the aid to the elderly organization. She is considered a catch by the others since she is younger than the other volunteers and smart. Her first name is Meg. She is given to self-mockery.
Meg is to accompany her lawyer husband Bill to Malaya for a stay of six months. She notes that Bill is starting to take his racing seriously these days. They are to give a party just prior to their departure. Meg attended the Slade with one of their guests. During a layover in one of the Asian countries Bill is shot and he dies. The bullet was aimed at a minister in the government and Bill's interference saved the man's life. Meg's brother David meets her as she deplanes in England. Her circumstances are quite reduced, although she will not be paying the gambling debts, and so she determines to seek training to be a social worker. Her plans change as the social worker at the agency where she volunteered explains to her the reality of being an employee answerable to a board of directors. Her shift in focus causes her to seek secretarial training. She is successful in the training but it is very wearing. A loss of stature results in Meg's changed relationships with people. This proves to be an interesting experience. Her various living arrangements entered into following Bill's death, however, create for Meg a good deal of stress. Her brother and his partner have a nursery. David's partner dies and Meg commences an extended visit with David. Writing on the flowers of Australia marked the end of David's academic ambitions. In the end the solution of some of the problems of David and of Meg is for the brother and sister to work on a book about eighteenth century English novelists. This book is well-written and rewarding.
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