The Torontonians

by Phyllis Brett Young

The arrival, one sunny morning, of pale green wall-to-wall carpeting for the living room is the crowning jewel in Karen Whitney's long-anticipated transformation of her house into a beautiful home, renovated to the exacting standards of her own impeccable taste. The banal finality of this event triggers an introspective voyage through the events of her life and how she became who she wife of business executive Rick, citizen of the suburb of Rowanwood, mother to two accomplished daughters in university. Before Betty Friedan coined the term feminine mystique, The Torontonians told a classic feminist story of suburban ennui and existential self-discovery, tracing a detailed portrait of femininity in the 1950s through the eyes of its perceptive and thoughtful heroine. The book is also a unique contemporary meditation on community and social ties from a time when Canada's major cities were just beginning to spread out into suburban sprawl.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Summer, Classics, Literary Fiction, Book Club, Novels

358 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Also published under pseudonym Kendal Young

Phyllis Brett Young was an internationally bestselling Canadian novelist.

Born in Toronto, Young was the daughter of Marion and George Sidney Brett, the latter a noted philosopher who wrote the first English-language history of psychology. After some time studying interior decorating at the Ontario College of Art, she married her longtime sweetheart, Douglas Young, and became a wife and mother.

As her daughter Valerie would later explain, her mother was a “product of a culture in which married women only went to work under extreme circumstances.” It was not until Valerie was a teen, and her husband secured work for a branch of the UN in Geneva, that Young found the time to evolve beyond short stories and write her first novel. Dinner-table discussions of nature versus nurture became Psyche, the story of a girl who struggles to find herself after being kidnapped from her wealthy parents and abandoned in a poor mining town. When Douglas urged her to submit the manuscript to publishers — something Phyllis was reluctant to do — her hobby become a career.

In just ten years (1959-1969), Phyllis Brett Young wrote four novels (Psyche, The Torontonians, Undine, and A Question of Judgment), a memoir about her summers in Muskoka (Anything Can Happen!), and a thriller experiment under the never-secret pseudonym Kendal Young (The Ravine). It was estimated that her first three books reached ten million readers throughout the world, making her one of the rare mid-century Canadian scribes to earn world recognition.

Young excelled at capturing the life of women between and beyond two World Wars, and her work spoke to mid-century womanhood before the rise of feminism. She was also a proud Canadian who strove to capture the cosmopolitan evolution of “Toronto the Good.” The Torontonians explored womanhood within a city caught between decorum, nationalism, and change, and Young fought against publishers who insisted that the novel lose its explicit Toronto-ness, dubbing it Gift of Time, The Gift of Time, and The Commuters. As she told the Ottawa Citizen, “I write because I love Canada and I wish more and more people would write about Canada as it is today.”

Ill health and familial obligations ended Young’s successful career. Never one for the spotlight, her work faded into obscurity. Phyllis Brett Young passed away in 1996, at the age of 82.

Eleven years later, the spotlight returned when McGill University posthumously republished two of her works, Psyche and The Torontonians.

Reviews

[Connie Crosby · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a former student of Canadian literature, I was surprised I had not previously heard of Phyllis Brett Young. I found her story-telling and writing superb. It gave me a clear picture of suburban life in Toronto in the late 1950s, highlighting a lot of what I have disliked about suburbia in more recent years. The anecdotes in this novel are highly amusing, but she also managed to maintain an intelligent, edgy tone throughout. Favourably comparable to the better-known Revolutionary Road. I would like to seek out her other works. Highly recommended.

[Leslie Wexler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was dreading reading this book thinking that it would be the tired old story of a disgruntled housewife angsting about a slow awakening about her life lacking meaning, and moving firmly towards a dissatisfying feminism. I used to think that my ex-mother-in-law had the worst of two worlds. In her late fifties she was an embittered, angry and loud woman who still made baked goods and preserves just like back on the farm. She held two conflicting mentalities within her at all times. She would turn the radio on above the sink and wash the dishes just like any 50's housewife (lacking only the loving and swaying husband drying dishes beside her), loved her self cleaning stove, and took an active interest in choir practice with her Icelandic ladies group (she was undoubtedly one of the youngest of the group). By all appearances she had maintained the values of her mother and father (who was born and was going to die in the same farmhouse) in Wynyard, Saskatchewan. However, whenever she opened her mouth she was a striking man-hater, had three sons that she communicated mostly indirectly with by means of yelling "Pigs!" a certain amount of times. The kitchen seems the hotbed of most raging as she walked in and switched on the light and surveyed the mess, an inner resentment switched on as well. If she yelled "Pigs!" just once it meant she was annoyed, a denouncement of three, "Pigs! Pigs! PIGS!" meant she was angry and demanding indirect attention and action to whatever she wanted changed. The incantation of five pigs or numerous pigs in an undertone was the final broken resignation of just doing it herself while hating everyone around her, and awaiting a perfect opportunity to yell, stomp, clatter the dirty pots in the kitchen, and finally yell while pounding on an unsuspecting family member's bedroom door. She lives a life stuck between being an empowered woman and a free feminist and shackled to the bitterness inextricably tangled up with an inborn sense of duty, responsibility, and role.

There is no bitterness within Phyllis Brett Young's book. Rather the turmoil remains completely hidden from her husband and daily routine as it forms itself into a smooth grey cube within her that she plays with mentally. She labels this cube: suicide. Embarking upon her 40's as a suburban housewife she contemplates retrospectively the steps that brought her to her current situation as in Rowanwood (Forest Hill a-like) where a new chinese carpet has been the finishing touch to a lifetime of collecting and displaying the perfect lifestyle.

What I thought was going to be a book to dread reading turns out to be one of the books I've read this summer that has provoked more than one conversation and numerous mental musings.

Inscription:
I wonder how many bright, young, and rising stars at the University of Toronto will read this book as the warning it is. The direction most people feel impelled to follow is not the right direction to continue to grow as a person. The "American Dream", for lack of a better label, leads to a happy, beautiful, successful picture of what society presents as life at its best.

p. 319: We didn't start out with the idea of putting so much emphasis on purely material possessions, on power mowers, and home freezers, and the other damn things we have.
"We took the line of least resistance, sweetheart."
"But we've fought all the way."
"It was still the line of least resistance."

My religion, and Erik's street past have kept us off the mainstream path. We now find ourselves embarking on a journey through University which will lead ... where exactly? A mainstream path that is defined best as the path of "least resistance"? Least resistance because it is the most accepted, most revered and respected? I must remember that happiness can be neither bought nor manufactured, and is a pale shadow of itself in imitation, and definitely cannot be determined by measuring oneself by the media.

Happiness is spontaneous, resists manufacture, and is an inward pursuit.

[Aysha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to believe that this book isn’t better known, especially in Canada. A smart and well-written reflection on life as a housewife in 1950s suburban Toronto. It’s full of punchy lines that either make you glad you’re a woman alive today or show that things haven’t really changed. The cherry on top was all of the Toronto references that turn the book in to a time capsule — reminded me that the city has been around and alive for (much) longer than I’ve been here. I think it wandered too much toward the end and could easily have ended 70 pages earlier, but still a fantastic read that I recommend to anyone, Torontonian or not. (Ty Koby for the recommendation 🫡)

[Geri · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

I picked this up because I've been interested in the depressed-1950s-suburban-housewife genre lately. I expected a disgruntled protagonist full of bitterness and barely tempered rage, so Karen Whitney surprised me with her grace and tenderness.

This book is introspective and thoughtful. We spend a lot of time in Karen's mind as she recounts her past, tracing back the steps that led her where she is now. It's definitely a slow and winding read but I loved sitting with Karen as she picked apart her past, along with the people and places that defined the different periods in her life.

I find the last third of the book a little dissatisfying. There is a third act reveal that felt so out-of-place and irrelevant. It felt like it was only put there to trigger Karen's transformation. Regardless, I'm still glad I read this book.

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Phyllis Young's novel attempts to demonstrate the path to one's self-discovery and it does capture the time period of its setting with accuracy. Anyone who lived in Toronto will find this book a good portal to flashback to the times when Toronto was taking tiny steps towards becoming what is termed "a world class city." Sadly, the book's topography and major themes do not rescue it from being a rather dated and stilted novel.

Topography is a tricky issue in writing a novel. Faulkner demonstrated how a place can and does become a person as well as anyone in the twentieth century. It is obviously unfair to compare Faulkner to Young, but the point is valid. Young attempted to construct her book in such as way as to make both the place and the people of equal standing and stature. Regretfully, neither was entirely successful.

I found the writing style to be too laboured, too dry, almost textbook like in its sterility. Too often, I wondered if the novel was not, in fact, meant to be a sociological/psychological study of character from an objective point of view rather than a creative novelistic approach.

Karen, the main character in the novel, is a housewife whose world revolves around the roles and expectations of a housewife. Party preparations, decorating the house and performing the proper social roles within her community take precedence over her own growth as a human being, her own exploration of what is truly important to become a human being. I do not quarrel with Young's desire to approach these important questions. Rather, I think it is the methodology of her writing that consistently gets in the way of her successfully exploring Karen's "existential self-discovery."

[Ronnie Clarkson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this book! It has it all! I love the way it’s been written, and the suspense it provides. It made me laugh out loud at times. Big fan!

[James Hanbelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARE you a Toronto home owner? Do you own a home in any city in North America? This book has some tips for you. Phyllis Young's erudite observations of the habits and dispositions of home owners living in Toronto over a span of three decades (1930s to the 1950s) is the high light of reading the book. She captures words, phrases and the banter that brings them out exquisitely. For example, the main character, Karen, recalls a conversation with her mother comparing a country upbringing with being city-bred: In the city, "you will always be amongst people who remember the same things you remember, even if they are strangers to you now...as you grow older, to live where there are people with whom you can share memories. Not just specific memories, but the general impressions of changing decades as they have affected a certain kind of background." And she goes on to give the example how in the 1920s anyone could bring up the topic of Babe Ruth. Even if you hated baseball you could refer to him and people would share their own experiences. For North American boomers, the largest 'experience' was knowing when JFK was shot. So, Young proves to be a master sociologist of the Toronto mindset. For the same reason, though, the book might have been better as a non-fiction. It rarely works as literature. A companion piece for "The Torontonians" would be "Accidental City" by Robert Fulford; similar in anecdotal events but with a closer tie-in with real estate and municipal politics. I couldn't read it as literature, but I sped-read it as non-fiction--it is a must read for home dwellers and commuters. Considering we are living in 2017, the psyche of home ownership has not changed much.

[Rev · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the surface, THE TORONTONIANS is about an upper-middle class housewife, living in a suburban neighbourhood, who is concerned with all things suburbia—manicured lawns, the latest appliances, hosting cocktail nights, and attending fundraisers.

Below the surface, this story is about women grappling with their place in the world post WWII, how people deal with crises, depression, friendship, romantic love, and is, overall, a love letter to the city of Toronto.

I loved reading about 1950s and older Toronto. I loved the familiar and contemporary references to the city, the protagonist’s musings and the contrasts (but mostly similarities) to the narrative Torontonians hold about the city today. Granted, all this through the lens of a privileged white woman where we lose the perspective of new immigrants or working class people, but it is surprisingly not as insufferable as it may sound.

I found the prose easy, effortlessly smart, observant, witty, and funny. Some plot points reminded me of Desperate Housewives, but overall was more reminiscent of CAT’S EYE by Margaret Atwood and STONER by John Williams. A book seemingly about nothing but everything simultaneously.

Both this novel and Phyllis Brett Young have become highly underrated!

[Kate Lawrie-Van De Ven · Rating 4 out of 5]

In short, I found it fascinating. Even if the narrative arch was not particularly satisfying, I enjoyed the tone and found the critiques of suburbia and post-war materialism to be very well executed. It was also interesting to read about Toronto in this era, from this era. Overall, if it had been written now, with the benefits of decades of feminist activism and theory as well as a rear-view stance on Toronto's development, I would have found it too on the nose. As it was, written when it was, it was prodigious in its critiques and observations.

"He probably doesn't know it, but he put it very nicely. It is, as he said, the finishing touch. It is the end of something without being the beginning of anything else." (< The protagonist/narrator describes a rug.)

[Eleana Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author herself refers to this book as « social history », and it certainly felt like that. Somehow, I had the impression of having everything in common with the protagonist, even though I am far from being a rich housewife with grown children. Still, I can acutely relate to her frustration over Eglinton traffic, and how she imagines potential realities much too vividly. I loved this book for how it transported me to Toronto in the late 1950s, for it’s portrayal of gender roles and womanhood, for the humour and the symbolism.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Torontonians isn’t a particularly exciting novel, but it’s no less interesting than Mrs. Dalloway or The Catcher in the Rye. It’s contemplative and lives entirely within its own context, set against the backdrop of my favourite city in the world. As I read, I walked the familiar streets alongside the book’s thoughtful heroine. Even though it’s set in the 1950s, I deeply related to her sense of ennui — the dissatisfaction with the mundane, the fear of being trapped in a dead-end cul-de-sac, and the desperate need to be at the heart of the city.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young brings the same existentialism and inner monologue found in the works of Sartre & Camus, with the fresh perspective of a woman living in the 50s Toronto landscape. At times, I found the narration too obvious, making poignant explicit remarks that I may have preferred being left implicit. The amount of underlining I did is a lot, showing my appreciation for her philosophical pondering. I found this novel dragged on until it quickly picked up at the end.

[Josh Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the Great Toronto Novel (that doesn't exist as of writing), but a decent mid-century novel of discontent. Probably fans of Richard Yates would like this.

[alex. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

[michele ✡︎]

good shit!

[Factorfictn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book because of its specificity in time, place, and class. All of the details used to evoke those specifics, however, did not hide the fact that the only well-drawn character was Karen, and even she came across as a bit too right in her perceptions and thought processes to be real. And Young loses me completely w her portrayal of Karen's marriage to (perfection, thy name is) Rick. Perhaps Young felt that showing imperfections in that relationship or within Rick himself would be an unnecessary distraction, but, in my opinion, a little reality wouldn't hurt. In fact, I think more real interactions with her husband would have added to Karen's credibility.

This book is well worth reading as a glimpse into a time, place, and perspective that I haven't read much about. Despite easily discernable flaws, this was an easy, enjoyable read about the lives of upper middle class women leading up to the second wave of the women's liberation movement.

[Myra Breckinridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Torontonians is a beautiful and immersive novel exploring the interplay between an unfulfilled society woman caught in the chains of memory and a rapidly changing post-war world.

By unapologetically focusing on 50s-60s Toronto as much as she focuses on her heroine, the novel becomes a vivid and engaging "social history" rather than a gossipy melodrama. It is as much a look into a changing city and country as it is a woman at a crossroads. Familiar beats are deepened by how Karen reflects on her world and struggles with it. The novel is a societal Canadian memoir, as much as its an encapsulation of one woman's struggle with the materialistic and performative nature of her post-war womanhood.

"My mother was not a feminist" is the first thing Young's daughter writes in the preface to the book, which is a keen reminder of the grey area that exists between all divisions. The Torontonians is a story about the struggle to find meaning and self-fulfillment as a woman in a time before The Feminine Mystique. It is a novel where a woman's experience is paramount, and paramours are Manic Pixie Dream Men. Karen's is a wholly affluent, white woman's experience, yet she is forced to face class divisions and the folly of applying self-indulgent narratives to worlds outside her experience.

The Torontonians is one part of a woman's (and world's) ongoing story, one that never feels like the be all or end all. It's a novel of movement, and a reminder how little, and how much, has changed.

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave this one star because it's Goodreads's only "did not like" option. It's not horrendous but....

This has often been compared to The Feminine Mystique and I think that comparison is pretty good. However, The Feminine Mystique has rightly been really criticized for focusing only on upper class, suburban, white, heterosexual women's problems and holding that up as The Woman's Condition and honestly I think this book suffers from that too. Interesing bit of canadian history I guess given that it actually predates The Feminine Mystique by three years but eh

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seems to be something of a forgotten gem, a book that was valued and something of a best seller when first published, yet dropped off the radar. This is a shame as it is beautifully written, a very enlightening rendition of time and place (mainly suburban Toronto in the 1950s) as well of the constraints of the life of an upper middle-class woman. As a Canadian incomer, it gave me real insights into where the Toronto I know and love has come from and of the nuances of its social structure.

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the exception of a few minor location details and this book could have been written today. It's fascinating to see how little has changed in terms of Toronto, the "suburban dream" and what makes individuals feel valued.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Through her writing, Young explains everything that you never knew you never knew about Toronto, all wrapped up in a touching story of a woman who lives and grows in the city.