OXBRIDGE BLUES Wendy Holden (short story in July W & H)

Wendy Holden is another author I enjoy reading. Her novels tend to be a combination of comedy, romance and satire. I laugh at the funny bits and rejoice when the girl gets the boy; meanwhile the satire makes me think. Sometimes there is so much exaggeration that a character becomes larger than life, laughable and a joke but there is a more serious side to the satire too. I think Wendy Holden’s writing reflects modern society and contains subtle criticism; there is a message and a warning – how NOT to live your life!

This short story is more serious than comic; the narrator is unfulfilled in her role as ‘upmarket housewife’ while her husband spends ‘long and arduous days’ working in his London office and has ‘long and arduous commutes home at night’. Though once their relationship was romantic – she met ‘her knight in shining armour’ at a dinner party – there seems little evidence of romance now. When he ‘levered’ the casserole into his mouth, I sympathised with her suspicion that tinned stewing steak would have done just as well (as coq au vin)!

The message is about choices. When the narrator married ‘a red-hot financial superbrain’, she no longer felt the urge to work and settled into a life of monied leisure. I had to smile when she said she was so busy with her ‘intense schedule’ (pedicures, manicures, waxings etc.) that she had no time for work! Details like ‘hand-carved and polished oak chair’ show what matters to her. However, clearly she is not happy. The visit to Cambridge reminds her of how carefree and confident she was as a student; she has lost much more than a career.

The daughter, Jasmine, is the wise one. She is determined to become a social worker and she refuses to be bullied by her father. Neither is she dazzled by the beauty and glamour of Cambridge. I thought Wendy Holden’s description was lovely – King’s College, the chapel, the archway, the river and the punts – she captured the atmosphere perfectly. What makes the ending of the story so satisfying is the narrator realising: ‘Even the best opportunity’s only as good as you make it . . . however late you leave it’. And now she is smiling too.

As it happened, my work took me to Cambridge for the day recently and I bought the July issue of W & H while I was there. Imagine my surprise that evening when I read this short story! The more I think about Wendy Holden’s writing and analyse (sorry, if this irritates you!), the more I think she is a very talented writer. I have read all of her novels – does anyone else enjoy her writing? Incidentally, while in Cambridge I found time to visit Blackwells (my idea of heaven!) and bought a big pile of books!