THE COMPANION

by Chaim Bermant ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 2, 1988

From Bermant (The Dancing Bear, The Patriarch, The House of Women, etc.), a stale comedy/drama about a sharp-tongued English widow and her spinsterish companion. Crochety old Martha Crystal is a rich widow who lives in one of the last of the large old houses (the rest have become apartment buildings) on her block in the little town of Crumshall, England. Phyllis is Martha's paid ""companion""--""slave"" would be more like it, according to Martha. Basically, the two of them constantly say nasty things about each other--Martha is the wasp-tongued narrator--but the reader, of course, is meant to know they can't do without each other. Which is good--because Martha's best friend Veronica (another stately old lady) dies; and Crosley's Department Store (where Martha does all her shopping) goes under. All this leaves the two women on their own together, and they go into a kind of decline: the house is a mess, Phyllis refuses to get out of bed, etc. When Martha's lawyer comes down from London to check up on them, he's horrified by the condition of the house and his client, and attempts to fire Phyllis on the spot, for incompetence. But Martha rouses herself and gives a fiery speech in defense of Phyllis (no more than we expected, but Bermant seems to have prepared it as a surprise) and then drops dead. Kicked out of the house after the funeral, Phyllis is somewhat at loose ends. But then along comes Martha's old accountant with a fortuitous marriage proposal; he and Phyllis head off to open a laundromat. Uninspired. Will cause readers to seek immediate solace in Barbara Pym.

Pub Date: Sept. 2, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION