My Friends The Hungry Generation

My Friends #15

by Jane Duncan

It was a long journey from the West Indies to Scotland - but Janet's holiday turned out to be unforgettable . . .It was a wrench for Janet to leave her husband behind-but Twice's heart condition did not permit him to leave the West Indies. So she set off to Scotland without him, to spend a holiday with her family-her brother Jock, his wife and their three lively children, Liz, Duncan and George.Having to take their mother's place while she is in hospital, Janet finds the Hungry Generation almost too much for her . . . but stories of her childhood at Reachfar prove the first step towards a surprising alliance . . .

Genres: Fiction

448 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Jane Duncan was the pseudonym of Scottish writer Elizabeth Jane Cameron, best-known for her My Friends series of semi-autobiographical novels. She also wrote four novels under the name of her principal heroine Janet Sandison, and some children's books. She was born in Renton, West Dunbartonshire and brought up in the Scottish Lowlands where her father was a police officer, but much of her childhood was spent in the Highlands on the Black Isle in Easter Ross, on her grandparents' croft "The Colony", the "Reachfar" of her novels. She graduated in English from the University of Glasgow and did various secretarial jobs before serving as a Flight Officer (Intelligence), WAAF during World War II. Afterward, she lived in Jamaica for ten years, returning to Jemimaville, near "The Colony", in 1958 as a widow. In 1959 Duncan became something of a publishing sensation when Macmillan Publishers announced that it would be publishing seven of her manuscripts. The "Reachfar" (My Friends) series is narrated by Janet Sandison and follows her life (which in outline parallels that of the author) from the World War I period through to the 1960s, depicting the people she encounters and showing how her crofting upbringing influences her in whatever society and geographical location she finds herself.

Reviews

[Ika Willis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fifteenth volume of a 19-book series which I think of as a single, serial, work. I've written longer reviews of Book 13, My Friend My Father (here: no spoilers for the series), and Book 19, My Friends George and Tom (a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... masses and masses of spoilers), as well as some brief reflections about Book 18, My Friends The Misses Kindness (a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... again, massive spoilers for the series) and Book 16, My Friend the Swallow (a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..., spoiler-free).

For this book, I'm just recording a metafictional reflection on the importance of ordinary lives and stories (aka A Theory Of History As Women's Serial Fiction), when Janet hears a story about how her father learned to make shadow-creatures on the wall at a Horse Show in 1912 where he also got into a fight defending an Indian man who was being harassed in a bar:

There came to me a sudden thought of the universality of men like my father, ordinary men who go about their daily business and have their little holidays like my father's day off when he took Betsy the filly to the Horse Show. It was possible, I thought, that somewhere in India at this moment, some old man was telling his grandchildren or great-grandchildren of his long-ago travels beyond the seas, of the time when, in a hostile Scottish town, one man had risen up to see that justice prevailed because he believed that all men had a right to the drink that they could pay for. History, it seemed to me, was as simple as this. It was made by what ordinary individual men believed and were prepared to stand up for and not by men such as the very important one who had made the announcement over television about the Suez Crisis. Indeed, not only did ordinary people like my father and us of this ordinary family make history, we also bent its crises to our family uses, for it was because of my brother's sense that history, in the accepted sense, was being made in Egypt that we had watched that absurd programme which had given me the thing I most wanted to know for the sake of Liz, Duncan and Gee. The "Candle Creatures" were part of our family history, a part that I had forgotten and out of a world-wide historical crisis the memory of them had come back to me.

[Fiona Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoy this book in the series. Most of the activity takes place in Aberdeenshire, rather than St Jago or the Black Isle. Yet both are present in the characters and the story. This follows on from the earthquake in St Jago that killed Marion and Rob Maclean - Janet is sent home to recuperate from the shock, accompanied by the Maclean's son, Roddy. They both end up at Janet's brother's house where he (Jock), his wife (Shona), their three young children (Liz, Duncan and George) are awaiting the birth of a new member of the 'hungry generation'. 'Hungry' for food and for all that life has to throw at them, as well as tales of 'Channatt', the child from Reachfar, brought to life by Janet's Uncle George and best friend, Tom, who are also visiting. The children are fascinated by tales of Reachfar but fight against the idea that their aunt, a middle-aged woman from St Jago, is the 'Channatt' of these tales. It's a fascinating insight into the life of a very busy household in the mid 50s and how fairy tales have impact and have healing properties. Lovely story, one of my favourites. Now on to the next one - I will be in tears by the end of that one!

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another quite unrealistic but charming book. I could read it again, but there is nothing to pique one's intellect. :)

[Barbara Mader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do find Jane Duncan's books fascinating, and this one I find particularly compelling. "Janet" is back in Scotland, visiting her brother and his family. She is in some ways overwhelmed by the "Hungry Generation," her three, then four, nieces and nephews, but there is an awful lot going on in this book: a birth, a death, and sudden love, and the reactions of those around these happenings; the fact that her brother's home and family life in Scotland is light-years away from her life on St. Jago, and either or both seeming, at times, unreal to her; her strong memories of her own childhood, in part called back by the presence of the children, who hear her stories each night at bedtime; the realization that she is both of and not of these people, her family. Plus George and Tom are in this book, and they are absolute favorites of mine!

I never know if I would enjoy Duncan's company or not, but I do enjoy these books very much indeed. If only they weren't out of print!

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Within days of the end of MY FRIENDS THE MACLEANS, Janet goes alone to her brother in Scotland for a much-needed vacation. From Twice's sickbed she now takes over the care of her brother's children, while their mother delivers a little brother and then goes through an episode of illness. There is a deep truth in the relationships of this family as we watch Janet and the children adapt to each other. This whole series is notable for its deep truth.

Favorite Contemporary Novel Read of 2010

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is NOT the edition I am reading (it is hardcover though - ex-library). Lovely story - didn't want it to end - I think the relationship with the children and their fantasy world was especially interesting. The idea that we can appear to be someone else when we are young and living in another world is kind of mind-blowing. I imagine the girl Liz probably went on to become Prime Minister ;-)

[Alexis Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books although they were written a long time ago! Jane Duncan a Scot, who lived in the Caribbean,for many years, wrote her books in the linen cupboard because her husband didn't approve. These are funny gentle books that lift your spirit. Duncan also writes as Janet Sandison.

[Alexis Lloyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books although they were written a long time ago! Jane Duncan a Scot, who lived in the Caribbean,for many years, wrote her books in the linen cupboard because her husband didn't approve. These are funny gentle books that lift your spirit. Duncan also writes as Janet Sandison.

[Susan]

I enjoyed this My Friends book even more than I thought I would. The characters of Janet's niece and nephews, hinted at in other of Duncan's books, are more fully explored here. There is more of John, her brother, and her sister in law, Shona, plus Roddy McLean. I especially liked hearing more from George and Tom, although they are reduced to minor characters in this book.