L Shaped room, a riveting read! Unwed and pregnant in a hovel!

Reminded me about this book, must seek it out again...

Like various others, I read the L-Shaped Room donkey's years ago and remember loving it - a friend and I both chanced on it at the same time. We used to laugh over Jane's idea of making her flat a bit less grotty, though - 'gay scatter-cushions' became a bit of a catch-phrase!

There's a film of it, too - has anyone seen that? Unfortunately they changed things round by making the narrator French, which didn't really work - Leslie Caron played her. Tom Bell was Toby and Brock Peters was John. Can't remember much about it (again, it's been years since I saw it), but I seem to recall I didn't think the flat was quite as dismal as it seemed in the book. Actually, I really fancy seeing it again now....

Do you mean My Darling Villain?

I read these as a teenager and had totally forgotten about them - thanks - will need to check them out again. Remember another teenie book by LRB - Summer of my ? ... about a middle class girl and biker boy (but decent lad despite what her parents thought) that she took up with). What's the modern equivalent of that??!!

I loved The L Shaped Room and several of LRB's other books too.

Ah that's nice!

Off to bed to read another chapter (or 3)

Oh I have a lovely warm glow now! The Writing on the Wall was one of the most influential books in my teenage life! So so glad that someone else had/has discovered it too. I re-read it regularly and although the language is a bit dated I still think it's as brilliant as ever.

Bluejeans you are my new best friend!

MissM I'm very glad to find you on a recent thread as I wanted to thank you! I was browsing old threads recently looking for something to read and you'd mentioned 'The Writing on the Wall' - well I had totally forgotten about it but I LOVED it as a teenager. I managed to track it down on Amazon and am now half way through it - am loving it all over again. It's such a brilliant book and parts of it have stayed with me since I read it (about 25 years ago) not to mention how educational it was to me at the time for example, until I read the book I assumed, like Tracy, that you could take 'the pill' just as and when you needed it!!

Sorry for the slight hijak but I think anyone who enjoyed The L-shaped Room would like this too even though it's aimed at younger readers.

My next Amazon trawl will be for My Darling Villain - loved that too! Had totally forgotten about these books, even though I re-read The L-shaped Room about 5 years ago...so MissM - thank you!

Ooh. I know that I have read this book, but have no idea where my copy of it is....Might have to get another one...

It is shocking isn't it. But she's such a wonderful writer despite all that - and of course she can't help living at the time she did. Must go and re-read it.

I remember reading it years ago, when I was about 20 I think. It was something I found in the bookshelves at The Parent's.

Very good. I'll have to read it again now.

It was more than the funny smell though. She wrote about him as if he was sort of subnormal. He could barely string a sentence together and couldnt control himself, like a savage.

I dont think it makes the book invalid, its the way people thought in those days. I love the book and its an interesting if shocking insight into just how ignorant people were. I absolutly adore Monica Dickens and she is very 'out of date' in many ways.

I have read her book about Israel 'Enemy at the Gate' i think it was called. But I didnt know about the L Shaped room sequels so I will have to read them.

But the funny smell bit for example seems outrageous to us now, but isn't it just a very honest reflection of how a nice middle-class, well brought-up girl has her (and society's) prejudices blown out of the water? Albeit it in a very childish way I suppose, but it does show us that people really did believe these things. In one sense I suppose (and I hope I can express this as I mean), the funny smell bit is all part of her discovering that there other types of people out there, and they are human beings. To someone like her black people did smell 'funny'

The pro-Israel aspect was part of what I loved. I'm Jewish, from a non-religious family, and as a teenager was going through all my self-discovery stuff, and I wanted to read anything I could get my hands on about Israel. And again, Israel then was a very different country from the Israel now, and was seen in a very different light. I don't think you can criticise the book for being pro-Israel (nor in my view should you criticise any work of fiction for being pro-Israel unless it's blatantly anti-Palestinian).

As for David, she is very critical of him too isn't she. I never really liked David that much, but it does show how irrational love can be. I still remember the description of him as birdlike - I have such a strong image of him in my head even all these years later.

I am rereading the trilogy for the nth time.
Agree with Humphrey really, in that in some ways it is very forward thinking- that she goes on to have the baby, and to make a go of it all, but a lot of it is very Enid Blytonesque in its references, the casual racism indeed, (the black man has a funny smell etc) the fact that David (who I remember thinking did in fact turn out to be a spoiled brat PFB but not because he was brought up by a single mother, or because he was an only child, just because he was a brat...) the very pro-Israel bent in the two sequels.....the way the hookers in the basement were nice to her but told her she wouldn't want to be seen hanging around with the likes of them...I can see that she might have been trying to challenge attitudes of the time, but it does come across more as "I love John despite him being black and gay". (poor old John, his character was used to get all our stereotypes out in one go)

Love her writing though, and have huge chunks of the 3 books underlined and copied out as illustrations to my own angsty romantic interludes throughout the years.

I remember the bedbugs too! I think at the time it was a very daring book - a single, unmarried mother, a black man and a Jewish man all sharing a house. It must have been quite shocking. As nighby says, I'm sure it was written to highlight issues that just weren't dealt with, as well as saying look, an unmarried woman can make her way in the world and black and Jewish people have feelings and emotions just like the rest of us. When I read books like this I marvel at how far we've come in terms of acceptance in a relatively short space of time (and on the flip side sometimes despair that some things remain the same...)

It was written to highlight racism, wasnt it.
I loved the bedbugs bit - thankfully, it is still my only experience of bedbugs, but still, at least I would know what to do.

I re read t recently - and I was amazed at the casual racism. Still a brilliant story - and the next two in the trilogy are good too. Still remember a scene where she's sitting under a tree with the baby in the rain - it was a huge influence on my parenting, and it's only a sentence or two!

I read this at college when a friend practically ordered me to read it. I loved it and went and bought my own copy, and the sequels. It's the little well- written details, like catching bedbugs with a wet bar of soap, that stick in my mind

Wonderful book! I read it as a teenager when it had little relevance to my own life, but I still remember it well.

Lynne Reid Banks was one of my absolute favourite writers when I was growing up. 'The L-shaped Room' was so incredible to me, even though it was already out of date by the time I read it. DH gave me a first edition for my 40th birthday last year - realise this might make some people go but it meant so much to me.

All three are excellent imo, I love them. She is an excellent writer

BUT some of the attitudes stick in the throat now. It is amazing to think that all the reasonable people in the novel are afraid that a single mother bringing up a boy risked having him turn out gay. It seems such a bizarre belief.

Just shows how things have changed in a relatively short space of time.

sounds like good read.will probably buy this

I love it too and read it along with the two sequels over and over. It is very much a historical piece isn't it, with the way it presents the devastating consequences of pregnancy at that time. I have probably read most of her books. Her 'An End to Running' is wonderful too (and you have a similar theme of life on a kibbutz and the 'exotic' Jewish male character - methinks semi-autobiographical ). Her 'One More River' for teenagers was an amazing discovery when I read it as a young teen.

John is the guy you mean iirc. Jazz musician y?