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whysoserious's review
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
After Leaving Mr MacKenzie provides a narrative of the once beautiful, high living woman's descent into a life of misery, low funds and a slowly sagging face! Rhys shows how expert she is in sculpting characters with true depth and whilst I held huge distain for the central character, Julia, I could truly appreciate the level of talent it takes to get me invested in a character like this.
Julia is a horrible human being by my estimation. Her key features which I found repulsive were:
Julia is a horrible human being by my estimation. Her key features which I found repulsive were:
- Self-centredness - so focused on her self that she has a complete lack of interest in others
- Throwing away money - yes she is destitute, so what does she do? Buy dresses!
- Lacking emotional warmth - I didn't get the impression that Julia was a pleasant - albeit flawed - character at all. She had the emotional warmth of a napkin.
- Using others - Ergh! Seeing people just to get a few quid in her purse and doing it so blatantly - vile!
That said the men in her life are just as drippy and emasculated as she is self-absorbed. Mr Horsfield is the quintessential doormat; accepting Julia's BS with little more than a shrug. His internal dialogue is one of annoyance and yet he can't muster the energy to tell her a few home truths. She is clearly using him for money and yet he still offers finances even when it is so blatant. I lacked any sympathy for his plight whilst also acknowledging that he only wants to help her. We don't get much in the way of a historical context for their relationship. Are they former lovers? Friends? Acquaintances? How did they meet and why is he so caught up in her? It is hard to say and I really wish Rhys had provided more context. This is extremely rare for me as I often want to power through to the ending/conclusion in novels but with this I actually wanted MORE!
Julia's uncle has a little more back-bone but barely. He doesn't offer any kind of hard-truths to her and it seems he - like everyone else in her life - just tip-toes around this ghastly woman for fear of upsetting her. Thankfully we see some push-back from Norah - Julia's sister - who puts her foot down a little more than anyone else and her mother's nurse doesn't have the time of day for Julia at all which is refreshing here. That said there were two moments in the story where I have sympathy for Julia
The book is beautifully written and Rhys is truly one of the greats in English writing. She is extremely under-rated/unknown to the average reader and this is such a shame because she produced some marvellous tales over the years.
This novel has a theme of lost youth and one can certainly relate to that when thinking about Julia. She constantly tries to make herself as pretty as she had previously, pulling out the powder at every turn, and you can see that she is clinging to a distant past where she was desirable and loved by various men. However in some ways this makes the story more infuriating in that her whole being revolves around her looks. She displays such a lack of character that she cannot do anything but grieve her former beauty. This is the type of person I wouldn't associate with in my life; obsessive with appearances rather than being an upstanding character. Looks aren't everything but for Julia its simply about attractiveness and money. A hideous combination!
So there you have it! A high quality piece of fiction that moves at pace and produces an emotional response for the reader. THAT is what every author should aim to achieve and Rhys does it effortlessly. ****
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcoholism and Suicidal thoughts
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