Yep, Betts was just stretching out the story. Jake insists on Britannia leaving that very night: he drives her back home and then drives straight back home again. The day after she gets home, she's back at work - this time, on a geriatric ward - and Jake has confronted Madeleine, who folds like a cheap card table and confesses all. The letter had been written to Britannia, as it turned out. So Jake calls Britannia's dad and arranges for a marriage license, and then picks up Britannia a few days later, interrupting her at her work and arranging for her to leave her job a few days early.
(That's not uncommon for a Betts doctor - arranging for a Betts heroine to leave her job - but it's always appalling.)
Of course she takes him back, despite his temper and high-handedness. But it's worth noting (because Britannia wouldn't ever think to do so) that if he hadn't insisted that she leave his house within half an hour of Chapter Eight ending, and he'd just kept her there for another day or so, everything would have been solved more easily.
Waiting also would have allowed Britannia's ankle to heal. The day before she leaves Jake's home, he's saying, "don't, I beg of you, over-exercise that ankle" (p. 155), and the next day he insists that she leave and, several days later, doesn't even ask after it, although she has been nursing without a day off for several days. Surely that would count as over-exercise? That he doesn't care or even seem to remember seems like a red flag somehow.
Next up: Caroline's Waterloo. I don't remember this one - though skimming the first page it all seemed familiar - but it seems to feature a marriage of convenience. Fingers crossed for that, and also that Caroline's Waterloo doesn't take me six years as Britannia did.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Betts miscellany: "valuable antiques"
In chapter eight of Britannia, Britannia and Mevrouw Luitingh van Thien are touring the house. They tour "magnificent bedrooms furnished with what Britannia could see were valuable antiques". A page later, Britannia picks up a figurine: "'Longton Hall,' she said absent-mindedly, 'mid-eighteenth century and quite charming. Madeleine hates me.'"
Well, if she'd kept the part about Madeleine hating her in mind, I reckon there wouldn't be the tiresome plot development that took up the second half of chapter eight and (no doubt) most of chapter nine, but I digress. What's interesting to me here is the way she looks at the furniture and decorations on this tour.
A friend of mine says she always notices what other people notice, because it's revealing. Some people always notice what a person is wearing, or what books are in a room, or details about the lighting. But here, twice, Britannia doesn't note the color scheme, or the books. She notes the value of the objects: note that "quite charming" comes after the manufacturer and approximate age of the figurine.
(I just looked up "Longton Hall", because I didn't know anything about it. It was soft-paste porcelain made from 1749-1760. Britannia's right about the age, but since all Longton Hall is from the mid-18th century, why mention it?)
Well, if she'd kept the part about Madeleine hating her in mind, I reckon there wouldn't be the tiresome plot development that took up the second half of chapter eight and (no doubt) most of chapter nine, but I digress. What's interesting to me here is the way she looks at the furniture and decorations on this tour.
A friend of mine says she always notices what other people notice, because it's revealing. Some people always notice what a person is wearing, or what books are in a room, or details about the lighting. But here, twice, Britannia doesn't note the color scheme, or the books. She notes the value of the objects: note that "quite charming" comes after the manufacturer and approximate age of the figurine.
(I just looked up "Longton Hall", because I didn't know anything about it. It was soft-paste porcelain made from 1749-1760. Britannia's right about the age, but since all Longton Hall is from the mid-18th century, why mention it?)
Britannia All at Sea, chapter 8
Britannia and Jake's mom tour the house at some length. This isn't particularly noteworthy, except that we're all treated to a bit of foreshadowing: Britannia says she would do anything, even starve, to ensure Jake's happiness. Hmm. Let's see whether anything comes of that. In the meantime, Britannia and Jake visit friends of his: Reilof and Laura, whose story is told in A Hasty Marriage.
Laura and Reilof have one of those lovely big houses just outside Amersfoort. Laura (for those who haven't read A Hasty Marriage) is a jolie laide who magically becomes pretty when she smiles. They have baby twins - a boy and a girl - and Reilof is devoted to Laura, and it's all very cosy. Apparently without irony, Betts comments that Laura and Britannia "have much in common", because Laura was also a nurse.
(If I remember correctly, she has a sister who's awful, perhaps even drugging a baby? Perhaps I'm misremembering. If so, A Hasty Marriage should be an excellent re-read.)
But back to Britannia and Jake: she's described as forthright, but apparently she is also prone to jumping to conclusions and doing almost anything to sabotage her happiness. She decides she wants to marry Jake, but insists that nothing is settled yet, even though Jake's mom and servants and, well, everyone else seem to assume they will marry. Britannia has misgivings because Jake makes arrangements to go see Madeleine the afternoon after their visit to Reilof and Laura, which makes her all too ready to believe Excellent Actress Madeleine, who comes and says that Jake regrets his brief attachment to Britannia, and that only Madeleine can make Jake happy. Her reasons don't make much sense: she claims that language will be an issue (although every main character is fluent in English, and Britannia understands enough Dutch to translate a phone call she overhears), that Britannia can't run the house (although servants abound), and that she won't know how to entertain on the scale Jake expects (which - again, servants, and Jake's mom).
Madeleine waves around a letter that she translates (because that's not suspicious), and on the strength of the greeting and ending of the letter, Britannia decides Madeleine can't possibly be lying.
So Britannia decides she needs to release Jake from whatever loose commitment he had made. He is justifiably annoyed that she does this without listening to his side of the story first, but then is too quick to agree that nothing would ever compel him to explain his side now.
Candidly, I think this would be been better as one of those five-chapter novellas Betts sometimes wrote: I think the story is only spun out because Betts needs to fill her nine chapters, but she ran out of plot some time ago.
Laura and Reilof have one of those lovely big houses just outside Amersfoort. Laura (for those who haven't read A Hasty Marriage) is a jolie laide who magically becomes pretty when she smiles. They have baby twins - a boy and a girl - and Reilof is devoted to Laura, and it's all very cosy. Apparently without irony, Betts comments that Laura and Britannia "have much in common", because Laura was also a nurse.
(If I remember correctly, she has a sister who's awful, perhaps even drugging a baby? Perhaps I'm misremembering. If so, A Hasty Marriage should be an excellent re-read.)
But back to Britannia and Jake: she's described as forthright, but apparently she is also prone to jumping to conclusions and doing almost anything to sabotage her happiness. She decides she wants to marry Jake, but insists that nothing is settled yet, even though Jake's mom and servants and, well, everyone else seem to assume they will marry. Britannia has misgivings because Jake makes arrangements to go see Madeleine the afternoon after their visit to Reilof and Laura, which makes her all too ready to believe Excellent Actress Madeleine, who comes and says that Jake regrets his brief attachment to Britannia, and that only Madeleine can make Jake happy. Her reasons don't make much sense: she claims that language will be an issue (although every main character is fluent in English, and Britannia understands enough Dutch to translate a phone call she overhears), that Britannia can't run the house (although servants abound), and that she won't know how to entertain on the scale Jake expects (which - again, servants, and Jake's mom).
Madeleine waves around a letter that she translates (because that's not suspicious), and on the strength of the greeting and ending of the letter, Britannia decides Madeleine can't possibly be lying.
So Britannia decides she needs to release Jake from whatever loose commitment he had made. He is justifiably annoyed that she does this without listening to his side of the story first, but then is too quick to agree that nothing would ever compel him to explain his side now.
Candidly, I think this would be been better as one of those five-chapter novellas Betts sometimes wrote: I think the story is only spun out because Betts needs to fill her nine chapters, but she ran out of plot some time ago.
a curious kitten
I have a pair of kittens in the house. One likes to knock books off the shelves. So yesterday I went into the study and found quite a collection on the floor, including about a dozen Bettses. This reminded me that I hadn't blogged her for a while (though I was shocked to see that it had been almost six years!
So I thought I'd better pick up Britannia again. I deliberately didn't re-read either the most recent blog entries or chapter seven itself, so I'll come to my chapter 8 recap with little idea of what's going on. (Except that it's a Betts, of course, so it won't be difficult.)
So I thought I'd better pick up Britannia again. I deliberately didn't re-read either the most recent blog entries or chapter seven itself, so I'll come to my chapter 8 recap with little idea of what's going on. (Except that it's a Betts, of course, so it won't be difficult.)
Saturday, April 17, 2010
bourgeois Betts
Perhaps it's because I haven't read any Betts for about a year, but I was struck by how bourgeois and cliched the book is (I read part of Britannia all at Sea today). Here are examples from the chapter I read:
Britannia is not wealthy, but she notices her companions' "long evening gowns, beautiful garments such as she had often gazed at in Fortnum and Mason's windows or Harrods". I admit I've gone and looked at the gowns in Fortnum and Mason and in Harrod's, but I find it odd that a nurse would do so "often" when her family isn't wealthy. It seems pointlessly aspirational, or like some weird self-torment.
Of course, Jake's family eats off "exquisite china" with seventeenth-century silver for a formal dinner. This dinner hits almost every cliche from the mid-twentieth century that I can think of: lobster soup, roast leg of pork with spiced peaches (served on "a great silver dish" and carved amid what must have been the most banal carver/surgeon jokes imaginable), and then mangoes in champagne as a sweet, served with champagne. All they needed was caviar and, perhaps, baked Alaska, and we could have had a food cliche BINGO.
In other bourgeois, upper-middle-class news, Britannia and Jake play Chopin on the piano, and Britannia receives a Gucci scarf from Jake.
Britannia is not wealthy, but she notices her companions' "long evening gowns, beautiful garments such as she had often gazed at in Fortnum and Mason's windows or Harrods". I admit I've gone and looked at the gowns in Fortnum and Mason and in Harrod's, but I find it odd that a nurse would do so "often" when her family isn't wealthy. It seems pointlessly aspirational, or like some weird self-torment.
Of course, Jake's family eats off "exquisite china" with seventeenth-century silver for a formal dinner. This dinner hits almost every cliche from the mid-twentieth century that I can think of: lobster soup, roast leg of pork with spiced peaches (served on "a great silver dish" and carved amid what must have been the most banal carver/surgeon jokes imaginable), and then mangoes in champagne as a sweet, served with champagne. All they needed was caviar and, perhaps, baked Alaska, and we could have had a food cliche BINGO.
In other bourgeois, upper-middle-class news, Britannia and Jake play Chopin on the piano, and Britannia receives a Gucci scarf from Jake.
Britannia all at Sea, chapter 7
Jake proposes! "I have brought you here [to a small room away from the party] to ask you, in peace and quiet, to marry me, Britannia." By Betts standards, that's not a bad proposal. Of course, she's wildly surprised, because she assumed he would marry the tiresome Madeleine.
It's a family party, including Madeleine, who has been invited for so many years that they think it would be rude not to invite her. She's furious at Jake's attentions to Britannia, and for once I have some sympathy. It wouldn't have killed Jake to pull her aside and say, "look, I've been taking you around for years, but now I'm going to propose to Britannia." Though if he had, it would have lessened her wrath and made it less likely she'll cause trouble in chapter eight or nine.
It won't be hard to cause trouble; Jake proposed, and Britannia said yes, but there is no formal announcement or ring yet, possible because Britannia wants to talk to her parents first. Seems reasonable to me, but as I said, it might be left that way so Madeleine can cause trouble in the next two chapters.
This chapter is filled with antiques. At dinner, they eat off seventeenth-century silver. Relatives of Jake's receive antique jewelry from Sint Nikolaas, and at the end of the chapter Jake shows Britannia his house, including antique furniture and paintings commissioned in the nineteenth century. In other words: old money.
It's a family party, including Madeleine, who has been invited for so many years that they think it would be rude not to invite her. She's furious at Jake's attentions to Britannia, and for once I have some sympathy. It wouldn't have killed Jake to pull her aside and say, "look, I've been taking you around for years, but now I'm going to propose to Britannia." Though if he had, it would have lessened her wrath and made it less likely she'll cause trouble in chapter eight or nine.
It won't be hard to cause trouble; Jake proposed, and Britannia said yes, but there is no formal announcement or ring yet, possible because Britannia wants to talk to her parents first. Seems reasonable to me, but as I said, it might be left that way so Madeleine can cause trouble in the next two chapters.
This chapter is filled with antiques. At dinner, they eat off seventeenth-century silver. Relatives of Jake's receive antique jewelry from Sint Nikolaas, and at the end of the chapter Jake shows Britannia his house, including antique furniture and paintings commissioned in the nineteenth century. In other words: old money.
mad apologies!
I've been unable to find my copy of Britannia All at Sea for months now, so I finally unbent and did the thing I'd promised myself I'd never do: bought it online. Before now, I'd always gotten my Bettses in person, either through friends or through lucky finds at used bookstores. This took all the serendipity out of it, but it was driving me crazy not to blog. So as soon as I read the next chapter, I'll post - which should be funny, because I barely remember the plot! I'm sure it will come back to me.
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