by Elizabeth Jolley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1984
Like Miss Peabody's Inheritance (above), this slightly earlier Jolley novel is a mixture of comedy and pathos--but here the blend, with darker humor and a broader array of wayward souls, is somewhat more satisfying. Retired music-teacher Mr. Scobie, 85, is the latest unfortunate arrival at St. Christopher and St. Jude, a vile little Australian nursing home run by genteel, ruthless Matron Hyacinth Price. (The novel's funniest pages are the memos back and forth between fastidious Matron Price and her inept, semi-illiterate, cheerily imperturbable Night Nurse.) Stuck in a single room with two other, less coherent octogenarians, Mr. Scobie longs to go home. But his crass niece is looking forward to selling his land; his hearty, ne'er-do-well nephew (a character reminiscent of those 1950s Ealing film-comedies) is too shadily busy to help; a visiting social worker is a gormless neophyte; and icy Matron Price herself is determined to hold onto Mr. Scobie--at least until he signs over all his worldly goods to her (near-bankrupt) nursing home. So Mr. Scobie, sometimes lost in memories (of his hapless lust for a comely young student, of his beloved house), must endure life at St. C. and St. J.--the all-night poker games in the next room, the feuds among the motley female staffers (with lesbian tensions like those in Miss Peabody), the instant devotion of mad inmate Miss Hailey. . . who sees musical Mr. Scobie as a kindred spirit for her own literary, artistic, sensitive soul. And though Mr. Scobie tries twice to escape on his own, the only escape--as suggested in that riddle of the title--is death, with the inherited Scobie property then becoming a commune for an odd clutch of Scobie relatives and nursing-home veterans. As in Miss Peabody's Inheritance, Jolley sometimes seems condescending and coldly detached as she toys with these often-pathetic lives. (The book begins, unnecessarily, with a cute, distancing, page-by-page summary of the action to follow.) Here, too, there's a lack of novelistic shape. But, with a large cast of eccentrics, obsessives, and hypocrites, this slight, occasionally poignant tale does show off Jolley's strongest talents--for sharp social observation, dotty dialogue (""These are your legs I suppose?"" leers one octogenarian at a social worker), and ghastly-edged farce.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1984
ISBN: 0892553693
Page Count: -
Publisher: Penguin
Review Posted Online: N/A
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1984
Categories: FICTION
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.