The Seacoast of Bohemia

by Arona McHugh

Follows some of the characters from A Banner with a Strange Device, which was the tale of a group of former G.I.s and their women, trying to patch their lives together again in the late 1940s in Boston.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Date of birth may be 1924 -- unclear from obituary. Born Arona Lipman and a native of Boston, she was married to Warren J. McHugh, a folk artist who died in 1986. They lived in New York and she wrote her first book in Sag Harbor. She was a 1950 graduate of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. She earned a master's degree in library science at Columbia University in 1951.

Reviews

[Cgallozzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Seacoast of Bohemia.
Arona McHugh

The Second Novel by Arona McHugh set in Boston, Ma. after WW2 - set in approximately 1948 thru 1951.

Context: I read Arona McHugh's first novel ..."Banner with a Strange Device...." when it was published in the 1960's - and recently read The Seacoast of Bohemia and am rereading "Banner with a Strange Device..." - as it good to read a novel placed in 1950's Boston.

Title: Bohemia is now part of the Czech republic. The current Czech republic is landlocked - has "no coast". So the title of the novel itself is a fantasy (See "Winter's Tale") - which one could take to mean that the characters and plot line is both ubiquitous and (physically) undiscoverable.

The character lists include: Rich Boston Brahmins (Brother and Sister) with appropriate sets of
(not so) secrets and and (not so secret) hangups.
Struggling Resident Doctors, friends and hangers-on
Poor Girl from a working class Jewish family - out of her social comfort
zone.
Artist types - painters and a half-failed; half blocked writer working on
the great American Novel.

Wordy, a little too long but very very erudite narrative - filled with literary and historical references - some examples are:
Saint Catherine's Wheel
De Trop
Grand Duchess Tatinana-ish
In Latin - "Those who are about to die salute you"
Eat, Drink and be Merry (not included the remainder of the sentence....for tomorrow we die).

Conflict comes from a clash of lifestyles and different world views amongst the various character sets:

Brahmins - please of ability, friends, connections - can "do" anything. A closed-end, traditional 'tribe' living in Louisberg Square in Boston, Ma. with all the Aunts attending Friday pm Symphony Concerts. Female Brahmin would today be considered a feminist for her viewpoints - initially lives a Bohemian life style and is very sexually active.

Stuggling Resident Doctors - living off G.I. Bill and their small salaries. These characters hard to fight hard for everything they have. Some are resentful of the advantages the Brahmins have.

Love Interest - Girls from a poor/working class Jewish family - Brilliant, Educated but living within two different worlds and initially not "fitting in" especially well with either 'world'.

Artist Types - time period indicates the rise of modern art - character in this novel steeped in traditional art - character senses it is their last show (as tastes in the Art World are changing after WW2).

1/2 Failed/1/2 Blocked Writer - Writing is everything; Writing takes everything he has. This character struggles to write - and is surrounded by Brahmins for whom 'life is relatively easy".

Long narrative passage - deep character development. Sometimes slow moving - but for me worth the read.

Published in the 1960's good to read about Boston, Ma.

Carl Gallozzi
cgallozzi@comcast.net

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in 1976