📚 'Rather Dated' May: Lynne Reid Banks' 'The L-Shaped Room' 📚

[MotherofPearl]

Welcome to the Mumsnet 'Rather Dated' book club. This month we are reading and discussing Lynne Reid Banks’ ‘The L-Shaped Room’. Please do add your thoughts when you are ready.

About the threads:

We are reading and discussing fiction from the 1930s to the 1990s that would have been described as 'contemporary' in its day. We are reading one book a month. Spoilers are permitted!

We started the chat thanks to a thread where we kicked off with a discussion of Penelope Lively, The Road to Lichfield.

Currently we have these separate threads:

November: Anita Brookner, A Start in Life
December: Margaret Drabble: A Summer Bird-Cage
January: Elizabeth Jane Howard, The Beautiful Visit.
March: Winifred Watson, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.
April: R.C. Sheriff, The Fortnight in September.
May: Elizabeth Taylor, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont.
June: Margaret Kennedy, The Feast.
July: Mollie Panter-Downes, One Fine Day.
August: Elizabeth Von Arnim, The Enchanted April.
September: Barbara Pym, An Academic Question.
October: Dorothy Whipple, High Wages.
November: Elizabeth Bowen, The Last September.
December: Monica Dickens, The Fancy.
January: E.M. Delafield, The Messalina of the Suburbs.
February: F.M. Mayor, The Rector’s Daughter.
March: Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop.
April: Noel Streatfield, Saplings

Link to the main thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5029141-the-mumsnet-rather-dated-book-group-all-welcome-to-join?page=4&reply=135696159

This was surely one of the most dated of the rather dated books we have read, not in terms of its publication date (1960), but certainly in terms of many of the attitudes depicted in the novel. The attitude to unmarried motherhood is obviously a dominant theme, but we also see racism in some of the responses to John and how the other characters talk about him, alongside some very bald anti-Semitism. Though some of this was pretty jarring to read in 2024, I thought this gave me a lot of insight into social attitudes of the late 1950s.

Saying all that, I absolutely loved this book. I was utterly engrossed in the story and what would happen to Jane, and the pregnancy gave a great narrative structure. The love story between Jane and Toby was quite affecting – I so wanted a happy ending and I felt we got that, with some qualifications. There were some great minor characters too, like Dottie and Mavis. My only slight gripe was that the story of Aunt Addy felt a little shoehorned in, and a bit too convenient in solving Jane’s problems. Given how important she tells us Aunt Addy was to her, it felt a bit odd that she was only introduced about halfway through the novel.

Overall though I thoroughly enjoyed this and found the story-telling compelling.

I completely agree with your review MotherofPearl. I enjoyed the story very much although the attitudes of the time were very jarring, particularly the depiction of John who received infantiliziing treatment as a black man by Jane and Toby (I think) and the casual antisemitism throughout. I don't recall ever reading anything similar. Certainly our most dated book! It was shocking but it serves as a reminder of the social attitudes of those times and I found it insightful as well.

I didn't like Jane initially but I think I warmed to her more as she gained maturity, accepted her situation and turned things around. I liked the ending where she encountered the new tenant of the L-shaped room who reminded her of herself at the start. Also the moment when she reread her father's letter indicated how much she had grown up in the space of a few months.

I agree that Aunt Addy came into the frame rather conveniently, but Jane really needed rescuing by then. She had gone through a lot and had toughed it out as much as she was able. Aunt Addy was also the reason for the reunion between Jane and her father so she served an important purpose. Apparently, there is a sequel to this book where Jane goes to live in Aunt Addy's cottage. I might read it. I was glad that the ending wasn't tied up too neatly. I think Toby wasn't the most stable character for Jane and she was better off to leave him his space.

Altogether, this was very absorbing and I'm glad I read it.

Edited for typo.

I was intrigued to read this again after not having revisited it for many years - I remember gulping it down the first time but (as I said in my review on the 50 books thread) the racism and general everything-ism really leapt off the page this time round! To be fair to Lynne RB, I think she came to feel that herself as time went by (and there’s a good edition of Radio 4's Bookclub discussing the book with her here if anyone’s interested - it’s a good listen).

I did start to find Jane a bit wearisome at times, as she was so intent on punishing herself - and I found it slightly improbable that a confident, well-educated girl, who'd been an actress (an assertive job by any reckoning) would be quite as naive and conventional as she sometimes seemed to be. But then she was fighting a losing battle against the horrifically judgmental standards of the time: bad luck for her that the 60s hadn’t quite begun to swing at that point. I agree with Fuzzy that Aunt Addy arrived awfully conveniently…!

There's an interesting film version which makes Jane into a rather elegant French girl (played by Leslie Caron) and tinkered with the plot in various other ways - Lynne RB absolutely hated it. I wish they’d show it on TV again but sadly I don’t think there are any (free) showings coming up. You can stream it, I think, if you’re interested.

Thank you very much Terpsichore!
I really enjoyed listening* *to the discussion. Lynn RB was very entertaining and also honest, particularly in relation to the race question. It was something I was wondering about, how much it reflected on her personally. She was upfront about it and gave a decent answer.

It also occurred to me about Jane being a bit of a contradiction. I also got the impression she was acting out a bit and being stroppy, in particular how she treated her father, but then as you say, she was up against it and there were two of them in it. He threw her out. She definitely grew up in the course of the story.

Also, how interesting to learn that there really was an L-shaped room!

I read this book as part of my CSE English course in the 70's. I remember thoroughly enjoying it and a lot of the issues were discussed in class and essays written.

Coming across this thread has inspired me to get a copy and re-read it. Thank you for jogging my memory.

You're welcome @kab89 I also like to revisit books I've read years ago.