Ms. Hen reviews August is a Wicked Month

 

August is a Wicked Month

Edna O'Brien

Faber & Faber Ltd

1965

Ms. Hen decided to read this novel, because she had read others by this author, and she wanted to read more. She learned that this was a banned book, and she became curious. Ms. Hen finds that she likes banned books; when a book is considered dangerous enough to be banned, it's usually worth reading.

This novel is about an Irish woman who lives in England, Ellen, who is divorced. Her son and ex-husband are going camping in the country, and she has an ill-fated affair with a man she has had her eye on for a long time. She is disappointed in herself, so she books a trip to the South of France. She wants to have fun.

She finds herself in a couple of unpleasant situations in the hotel where she is staying with men who work there. She starts talking to a woman in a bar, and she goes with her with some other people to a club, and they end up at someone's house. Ellen likes an actor named Bobby, but she ends up spending the night with the owner of the house, though she doesn't want to. She gets herself into trouble, and makes mistakes.

Ms. Hen was surprised where this novel went. She was surprised with what happened with the character, which is what a good novel should do. She has not read a lot of book in which a female protagonist get venereal disease.

To Ms. Hen, this reminded her of novels by Ottessa Moshfegh, EILEEN, and MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION. These books are about women who make bad choices, and could be considered bad people. Traditionally, woman are supposed to be good and have redeeming qualities, and be kind and gentle, and not be disgusting and humiliate themselves. Also this novel made Ms. Hen think of ANNA KARENINA, the quintessential fallen woman novel. The character does not do what convention expects her to do, and she pays the ultimate price.  

Ms. Hen felt sorry for this character; she doesn't seem very smart. All she wants is to have a good time, but she gets in trouble. She won't tell you what happens at the end of the novel, but Ms. Hen thinks Ellen will be okay. This novel is a great example of creating an anti-hero, the reader roots for her, because we have to, but we watch her spiral out of control.

Ms. Hen wanted to read a nice book to recover from the last book she read, and this isn't exactly nice, but it was a good rebound. She doesn't think this is her favorite Edna O'Brien book, but it was published a long time ago. The world has changed since this novel has been published. If it were published today, it would not be banned; Ms. Hen thinks it would have been more successful.