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Querida Niña
Con poco más de treinta años, tras morir su madre, Agatha Bodenham se encuentra completamente sola. Entonces recordará, e invocará de nuevo a la vida, a la única compañera que ha tenido en toda su existencia: Clarissa, una amiga imaginaria de la niñez. Sí, imaginaria pero, en verdad, más real que cualquier otra persona. Al principio, Clarissa se le aparecerá sólo de noche, luego conquistará el día, fundamentando su existencia material en la calidez del amor obsesivo de Agatha, hasta que los demás, extrañamente, también consiguen verla.
Verla pero no tocarla... Agatha protegerá hasta las últimas consecuencias su creación con un amor obstinado y posesivo; protegerá a Clarissa de los demás, incluso del amor de un hombre, pues si cualquier otro llegase a tocarla las consecuencias serían fatales.
La soledad siempre acaba siendo fantasmal. Edith Olivier nos ofrece una novela corta en la que la protagonista empieza buscando un espejo al que hablarle sin miedo ni prejuicios y termina construyendo una existencia paralela capaz de responder preguntas como ella misma no ha sabido hacer; capaz de desear y de intentar, incluso de acometer, todo lo que ella no tuvo el valor de llevar a cabo: una criatura que responda al amor tal y como se espera. El Frankenstein personal de Agatha Bodenham no está compuesto de partes muertas; al contrario, está creado a partir de toda esa vida que no hemos vivido (que nos falta por vivir) cuando nos enfrentamos a la realidad opresiva.
Verla pero no tocarla... Agatha protegerá hasta las últimas consecuencias su creación con un amor obstinado y posesivo; protegerá a Clarissa de los demás, incluso del amor de un hombre, pues si cualquier otro llegase a tocarla las consecuencias serían fatales.
La soledad siempre acaba siendo fantasmal. Edith Olivier nos ofrece una novela corta en la que la protagonista empieza buscando un espejo al que hablarle sin miedo ni prejuicios y termina construyendo una existencia paralela capaz de responder preguntas como ella misma no ha sabido hacer; capaz de desear y de intentar, incluso de acometer, todo lo que ella no tuvo el valor de llevar a cabo: una criatura que responda al amor tal y como se espera. El Frankenstein personal de Agatha Bodenham no está compuesto de partes muertas; al contrario, está creado a partir de toda esa vida que no hemos vivido (que nos falta por vivir) cuando nos enfrentamos a la realidad opresiva.
168 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1927
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About the author
Edith Olivier
34 books7 followersEdith Maud Olivier MBE was an English writer, also noted for acting as hostess to a circle of well-known writers, artists, and composers in her native Wiltshire.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
March 7, 2019
4.5 stars rounded up
This is an oddity by another female writer who is little known. It is Olivier’s first novel (1927) and was well received at the time. Olivier was one of ten children, a daughter of a clergyman; she read history at Oxford, but most of her life was spent in Wiltshire. In the First World War she was an officer in the Women’s Land Army. Olivier had a circle of friends in the late 20s and 30s which included Rex Whistler, Siegfried Sassoon, Osbert Sitwell, Brian Howard, Stephen Tennant, David Cecil and Cecil Beaton.
Although socially conservative (she regretted the passing of the “regulated existence” of Victorian Country families, felt that the “domestic education” of women made them more cultured and disliked the pace of modern life) Olivier wrote fiction that was distinctive and odd. She stretches what is meant by reality and often a traditional moral surface is covering something distinctly stranger.
Agatha Bodenham lives a reclusive and sheltered life with her mother. She is 32 when her mother dies and alone in the world. She remembers she had an invisible friend as a child called Clarissa who disappeared when she told her governess about her and was ridiculed. Agatha starts to think about Clarissa again and starts to see her and play games with her. So far, so predictable; a study in loneliness and isolation. The oddness starts when other people start to see Clarissa. Clarissa gradually becomes part of the life of the house and the servants see her all the time. Agatha has to explain her presence. Not only does Clarissa now spend time with Agatha and play games with her; over time she also ages. Clarissa is comfortable with Agatha but much less so with other people and children initially.
Periodically you have to pinch yourself to remind yourself Clarissa is not real. During the book Clarissa moves from about 11 to about 17. Inevitably the real world intrudes in the form of the daughter of a local family and horror of horrors even a young man. The ending is not unexpected, but the whole is not straightforward. I think we are in Turn of the Screw territory here, but this is better because it is so understated. The novel takes a bit of a Gothic turn at times and there is shade of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein here.
The young man in question is called David and he falls in love with Clarissa and he wants to possess Clarissa for himself, which means he becomes Agatha’s rival and both seem to be aware of the situation. Here things seem to become more complex; it isn’t clear how self-aware Clarissa is, but there are veiled hints. Clarissa is objectified by both parties, who both want to own her. The objectification is very different; for Agatha, Clarissa is a buffer against loneliness, isolation and possibly madness, something/one which is solely hers. Similarly for David, although his objectification relates to desire and possession. Clarissa herself towards the end of the novel appears more distant from both parties and perhaps the message is that no one can be the possession of another.
The ending is poignant although it doesn’t feel to me like a fairy tale. It was only written a couple of years after the publication of Mrs Dalloway; her name was Clarissa, so there may be a link. Hermione Lee in her introduction (virago edition) suggests other influences are Austen (Agatha being a female version of Mr Woodhouse) and Hawthorne; Clarissa being very similar to Pearl (I can see that). It is a novel that is difficult to categorise and very memorable; worth reading.
This is an oddity by another female writer who is little known. It is Olivier’s first novel (1927) and was well received at the time. Olivier was one of ten children, a daughter of a clergyman; she read history at Oxford, but most of her life was spent in Wiltshire. In the First World War she was an officer in the Women’s Land Army. Olivier had a circle of friends in the late 20s and 30s which included Rex Whistler, Siegfried Sassoon, Osbert Sitwell, Brian Howard, Stephen Tennant, David Cecil and Cecil Beaton.
Although socially conservative (she regretted the passing of the “regulated existence” of Victorian Country families, felt that the “domestic education” of women made them more cultured and disliked the pace of modern life) Olivier wrote fiction that was distinctive and odd. She stretches what is meant by reality and often a traditional moral surface is covering something distinctly stranger.
Agatha Bodenham lives a reclusive and sheltered life with her mother. She is 32 when her mother dies and alone in the world. She remembers she had an invisible friend as a child called Clarissa who disappeared when she told her governess about her and was ridiculed. Agatha starts to think about Clarissa again and starts to see her and play games with her. So far, so predictable; a study in loneliness and isolation. The oddness starts when other people start to see Clarissa. Clarissa gradually becomes part of the life of the house and the servants see her all the time. Agatha has to explain her presence. Not only does Clarissa now spend time with Agatha and play games with her; over time she also ages. Clarissa is comfortable with Agatha but much less so with other people and children initially.
Periodically you have to pinch yourself to remind yourself Clarissa is not real. During the book Clarissa moves from about 11 to about 17. Inevitably the real world intrudes in the form of the daughter of a local family and horror of horrors even a young man. The ending is not unexpected, but the whole is not straightforward. I think we are in Turn of the Screw territory here, but this is better because it is so understated. The novel takes a bit of a Gothic turn at times and there is shade of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein here.
The young man in question is called David and he falls in love with Clarissa and he wants to possess Clarissa for himself, which means he becomes Agatha’s rival and both seem to be aware of the situation. Here things seem to become more complex; it isn’t clear how self-aware Clarissa is, but there are veiled hints. Clarissa is objectified by both parties, who both want to own her. The objectification is very different; for Agatha, Clarissa is a buffer against loneliness, isolation and possibly madness, something/one which is solely hers. Similarly for David, although his objectification relates to desire and possession. Clarissa herself towards the end of the novel appears more distant from both parties and perhaps the message is that no one can be the possession of another.
The ending is poignant although it doesn’t feel to me like a fairy tale. It was only written a couple of years after the publication of Mrs Dalloway; her name was Clarissa, so there may be a link. Hermione Lee in her introduction (virago edition) suggests other influences are Austen (Agatha being a female version of Mr Woodhouse) and Hawthorne; Clarissa being very similar to Pearl (I can see that). It is a novel that is difficult to categorise and very memorable; worth reading.
September 25, 2022
Boy. A 4.5 star read I finished two days ago (Guard Your Daughters) and another 4.5-star book yesterday. I am getting spoiled! Both unexpected winners. 🙂 (And now I see this book has only gotten 40 reviews from GoodReads folks. I hope more people read this book.)
The mother of Agatha, who is 32 and unmarried, dies leaving her the house and two servants and a cook. When alive, they were not all that close. Agatha had a lonely childhood. When she was a child she invented a playmate, Clarissa, and had the playmate for several years, until her governess discovered Agatha talking to herself (actually she was talking to Clarissa). The governess humiliated her and embarrassed her, and that was the end for Clarissa. Well, actually not, for Agatha resurrected Clarissa at age 32, but this time the girl changed from imaginative to real. Other people saw here and interacted with her. The girl Clarissa at the time of her ‘appearance’ was 11 years old and near the end of the novel she was 17 years old and attracted the attention of a young man who was their neighbor. That creates a problem, for Clarissa was tethered to Agatha and she was reluctant to let her go. Or maybe it was impossible for her to let her go. Anyhoo, I am not going to tell you how it ends. You’ll have to read the book, which I hope you do. I think you will find it a good read! 🙂 🙃
I am going to seek out other works by this obscure author.
Note:
• Leave it to Virago Modern Classics to pick this out for one of their re-issues. The book had a wonderful and informative Introduction by Hermione Lee (University of York, 1980). Very interesting. It appears this book was certainly informed by Olivier’s childhood and adolescence.
This book was also re-issued by the British Library Women Writers series. And the re-issue has commentary on the book itself.
Reviews:
• https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2...
• excellent review! https://www.stuckinabook.com/love-chi...
• http://furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.co...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
The mother of Agatha, who is 32 and unmarried, dies leaving her the house and two servants and a cook. When alive, they were not all that close. Agatha had a lonely childhood. When she was a child she invented a playmate, Clarissa, and had the playmate for several years, until her governess discovered Agatha talking to herself (actually she was talking to Clarissa). The governess humiliated her and embarrassed her, and that was the end for Clarissa. Well, actually not, for Agatha resurrected Clarissa at age 32, but this time the girl changed from imaginative to real. Other people saw here and interacted with her. The girl Clarissa at the time of her ‘appearance’ was 11 years old and near the end of the novel she was 17 years old and attracted the attention of a young man who was their neighbor. That creates a problem, for Clarissa was tethered to Agatha and she was reluctant to let her go. Or maybe it was impossible for her to let her go. Anyhoo, I am not going to tell you how it ends. You’ll have to read the book, which I hope you do. I think you will find it a good read! 🙂 🙃
I am going to seek out other works by this obscure author.
Note:
• Leave it to Virago Modern Classics to pick this out for one of their re-issues. The book had a wonderful and informative Introduction by Hermione Lee (University of York, 1980). Very interesting. It appears this book was certainly informed by Olivier’s childhood and adolescence.
This book was also re-issued by the British Library Women Writers series. And the re-issue has commentary on the book itself.
Reviews:
• https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2...
• excellent review! https://www.stuckinabook.com/love-chi...
• http://furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.co...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
March 22, 2019
Quite a sweet little story filled with magic realism, about a 32 year old woman named Agatha who, after losing her mother can only cope with her grief by conjuring up memories of childhood imaginary friend Clarissa again. She thinks about her constantly until one day Clarissa appears there in front of her, very faint but very real to her.
Initially she is only visible to Agatha, but before long (when Agatha decides on an impromptu trip to Brighton for a change of scene) Clarissa becomes visible to all, including a charming suitor and Agatha's line between childhood innocence and motherly obsession takes over.
Very softly written and tenderly encapsulated. A book that made me think about it long after I turned the last page.
Initially she is only visible to Agatha, but before long (when Agatha decides on an impromptu trip to Brighton for a change of scene) Clarissa becomes visible to all, including a charming suitor and Agatha's line between childhood innocence and motherly obsession takes over.
Very softly written and tenderly encapsulated. A book that made me think about it long after I turned the last page.
July 9, 2017
Along with Europa Editions and NYRB editions, Virago Modern Classics is another one I will almost always pick up if I find copies for relatively cheap. I love these green bindings with lovely covers, and they're all written by women because, in case you haven't heard, it's been difficult for women throughout history to get their literature published. Virago is all "Look, y'all, WOMEN WROTE TOO." While you're reading all of your 20th-century dead white dudes, Virago showcases all those women that no one took seriously. It's heavenly.
In this one, Agatha is a 32-year-old woman whose mother has just died. The age is important to mention, I think, because to combat her loneliness Agatha recreates her childhood imaginary friend, Clarissa. Clarissa joins Agatha's every day life, and Agatha is happy again; others find this a bit eccentric, but then wouldn't ya know it, maybe they see Clarissa once in a while too.
It's a sweet little book that I feel is deeper than what we see on the surface. It's remniscent of other women writers who weren't taken seriously very often, but who wrote about important women's issues at a time when most people were all like "Women have no issues! Where's my chicken pot pie!?" Throughout reading this I was reminded of Virginia Woolf, Kate Chopin, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, very strong female writers who didn't shy away from discussing the aspects of their lives and their societies that a lot of people turned away from.
As the fantastic Hermione Lee wrote in the introduction: "Whether Clarissa's name was chosen as a tribute to Mrs. Dallow (1925) I don't know; Edith Olivier might well have had in mind the split in that novel between madness and the "social" self. The more obvious influences, here as elsewhere in her work, are Jane Austen... and Nathaniel Hawthorne." Personally Austen and Hawthorne were not my first thoughts, but I can dig it.
It's a shame this short novel published in 1927 isn't better known. This cover is absolutely gorgeous and whimsical, like the story itself. It's a quick read as well, so if you can get your paws on a copy, I highly recommend it. Early 20th-century women weren't as innocent as they always get accused of being.
In this one, Agatha is a 32-year-old woman whose mother has just died. The age is important to mention, I think, because to combat her loneliness Agatha recreates her childhood imaginary friend, Clarissa. Clarissa joins Agatha's every day life, and Agatha is happy again; others find this a bit eccentric, but then wouldn't ya know it, maybe they see Clarissa once in a while too.
It's a sweet little book that I feel is deeper than what we see on the surface. It's remniscent of other women writers who weren't taken seriously very often, but who wrote about important women's issues at a time when most people were all like "Women have no issues! Where's my chicken pot pie!?" Throughout reading this I was reminded of Virginia Woolf, Kate Chopin, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, very strong female writers who didn't shy away from discussing the aspects of their lives and their societies that a lot of people turned away from.
As the fantastic Hermione Lee wrote in the introduction: "Whether Clarissa's name was chosen as a tribute to Mrs. Dallow (1925) I don't know; Edith Olivier might well have had in mind the split in that novel between madness and the "social" self. The more obvious influences, here as elsewhere in her work, are Jane Austen... and Nathaniel Hawthorne." Personally Austen and Hawthorne were not my first thoughts, but I can dig it.
It's a shame this short novel published in 1927 isn't better known. This cover is absolutely gorgeous and whimsical, like the story itself. It's a quick read as well, so if you can get your paws on a copy, I highly recommend it. Early 20th-century women weren't as innocent as they always get accused of being.
October 8, 2023
(scroll down for English)
Leí Querida niña porque me hizo pensar en El diario de Edith de Patricia Highsmith, un libro que me gustó muchísimo. Edith en el título de uno, Edith el nombre de la otra, una protagonista que construye una fantasía a partir de una muñeca que tuvo de niña y una historia con otra señora que se inventa otra vida porque la suya en fin... Era fácil establecer la conexión, vamos, era inevitable. Bueno, pues no es que sean exactamente polos opuestos, pero la similitud entre ambos libros no es tan grande como esperaba. Ahora que lo pienso, puede que sea yo otra señora que se va creando realidades alternativas y luego pasa lo que pasa. En cualquier caso, aunque el de Patricia Highsmith me haya gustado mucho mas, Querida niña es un librito que se lee en nada de tiempo, muy recomendable y bien escrito. Escribo esto casi un año después de haberlo leído (voy súper al día con mis reseñas, sí), y me sorprende descubrir que ha dejado un poso en mi memoria mayor que el de otros libros más recientes. Asumo que eso quiere decir algo. O puede que esté soñando un libro completamente distinto. A saber.
¶ · ¶ · ¶ · ¶ · ¶ · ¶ · ¶
I read The Love Child because it made me think of Edith's Diary by Patricia Highsmith, a book I really loved. Edith in the title here, Edith being the name of the author there, a story about a woman who creates a whole fantasy from a doll she had in her childhood, and another story about lady who invents an alternate life because don't get her started on her real one... I mean, it was more than easy to make the connection, it was unavoidable. Well, now I can tell they are not exactly worlds apart, but the similarities are not as striking as I expected them to be. There again, maybe I am another lady who's too fond of creating alternative realities and this is what you get when etc. Anyway, even if I like Patricia Highsmith's book much more, The Love Child is a little book you can read in no time, really appealing and well written. I'm writing this almost a year since I read it (yeah, I'm super up to date with my reviews), and I'm discovering with some surprise I remember it much better than most recent readings. I assume this means something. Or maybe I'm dreaming a completely different book. Who knows.
Leí Querida niña porque me hizo pensar en El diario de Edith de Patricia Highsmith, un libro que me gustó muchísimo. Edith en el título de uno, Edith el nombre de la otra, una protagonista que construye una fantasía a partir de una muñeca que tuvo de niña y una historia con otra señora que se inventa otra vida porque la suya en fin... Era fácil establecer la conexión, vamos, era inevitable. Bueno, pues no es que sean exactamente polos opuestos, pero la similitud entre ambos libros no es tan grande como esperaba. Ahora que lo pienso, puede que sea yo otra señora que se va creando realidades alternativas y luego pasa lo que pasa. En cualquier caso, aunque el de Patricia Highsmith me haya gustado mucho mas, Querida niña es un librito que se lee en nada de tiempo, muy recomendable y bien escrito. Escribo esto casi un año después de haberlo leído (voy súper al día con mis reseñas, sí), y me sorprende descubrir que ha dejado un poso en mi memoria mayor que el de otros libros más recientes. Asumo que eso quiere decir algo. O puede que esté soñando un libro completamente distinto. A saber.
¶ · ¶ · ¶ · ¶ · ¶ · ¶ · ¶
I read The Love Child because it made me think of Edith's Diary by Patricia Highsmith, a book I really loved. Edith in the title here, Edith being the name of the author there, a story about a woman who creates a whole fantasy from a doll she had in her childhood, and another story about lady who invents an alternate life because don't get her started on her real one... I mean, it was more than easy to make the connection, it was unavoidable. Well, now I can tell they are not exactly worlds apart, but the similarities are not as striking as I expected them to be. There again, maybe I am another lady who's too fond of creating alternative realities and this is what you get when etc. Anyway, even if I like Patricia Highsmith's book much more, The Love Child is a little book you can read in no time, really appealing and well written. I'm writing this almost a year since I read it (yeah, I'm super up to date with my reviews), and I'm discovering with some surprise I remember it much better than most recent readings. I assume this means something. Or maybe I'm dreaming a completely different book. Who knows.
April 27, 2022
After the death of her mother, Agatha is without companionship of any kind. Always a lonely person, she is unmoored in a life of silences. She draws on her imaginary companion from childhood, the fey and playful Clarissa, and, to her great surprise, Clarissa springs into being. Agatha and 11-year-old Clarissa do everything together, playing games and reading and filling their lives with imagined adventures. But as Clarissa grows up, she begins to grow away from Agatha. Can an imaginary person exist without the person who has imagined them? This is a fast-paced, companionable book, that I read in almost one sitting. It left a strong impression on me: of loneliness, loss and magic. Though its scope is small, it is well realised, and it draws in the reader. I can see why it has been republished, and recommend it.
October 8, 2021
Strange, but very good
Agatha, on her mother's death, finds herself very lonely indeed. She conjures up her imaginary childhood friend, who eventually becomes real, and is seen not only by Agatha, but by those around her too.
An odd, fairy tale like story about loss, loneliness, and a struggle between two opposing forces.
Agatha, on her mother's death, finds herself very lonely indeed. She conjures up her imaginary childhood friend, who eventually becomes real, and is seen not only by Agatha, but by those around her too.
An odd, fairy tale like story about loss, loneliness, and a struggle between two opposing forces.
Read
February 25, 2025Very readable but I wasn't as engaged with this novel as I hoped to be. However I thought the last chapter was a master stroke. Haunting and perfect.
September 26, 2017
Only those who have tried to purchase this novel will know how rare it is. It has not been in print for quite some time (my copy dates from 1982), and when I first looked for it a couple of years ago, there were no copies to be had below £80. When I spotted this online for just £5, I simply had to have it, even with my to-read shelves groaning under the weight of unread books. I began it on the same day that it dropped through my letterbox (after gazing at the beautiful cover for a while, of course).
This particular Virago has been introduced by Hermione Lee, who writes about the novel insightfully. Before reading this, I had such high hopes for the book, as the few reviews which I have read of it have all been entirely positive.
The premise of The Love Child is enticing:
“At thirty-two, her mother dead, Agatha Bodenham finds herself quite alone. She summons back to life the only friend she ever knew, Clarissa, the dream companion of her childhood. At first Clarissa comes by night, and then by day, gathering substance in the warmth of Agatha’s obsessive love until it seems that others too can see her. See, but not touch, for Agatha had made her love child for herself alone. No man may approach her elfin creation of perfect beauty. If he does, the love with summoned her can spirit her away…”
The novel is just as haunting as its plot promises. Without giving too much away, the characters are complex and intricately crafted, and Olivier’s prose is absolutely beautiful and deserves to be savoured as far as possible. The entirety is stunning, mesmerising and absolutely beautiful. It certainly deserves its place on my favourites list, and is a novel which I will happily revisit each and every year to come.
This particular Virago has been introduced by Hermione Lee, who writes about the novel insightfully. Before reading this, I had such high hopes for the book, as the few reviews which I have read of it have all been entirely positive.
The premise of The Love Child is enticing:
“At thirty-two, her mother dead, Agatha Bodenham finds herself quite alone. She summons back to life the only friend she ever knew, Clarissa, the dream companion of her childhood. At first Clarissa comes by night, and then by day, gathering substance in the warmth of Agatha’s obsessive love until it seems that others too can see her. See, but not touch, for Agatha had made her love child for herself alone. No man may approach her elfin creation of perfect beauty. If he does, the love with summoned her can spirit her away…”
The novel is just as haunting as its plot promises. Without giving too much away, the characters are complex and intricately crafted, and Olivier’s prose is absolutely beautiful and deserves to be savoured as far as possible. The entirety is stunning, mesmerising and absolutely beautiful. It certainly deserves its place on my favourites list, and is a novel which I will happily revisit each and every year to come.
August 12, 2020
Sometime in the earlier years of the last century Agatha was left alone by the death of her mother, with only a large house and servants for company. When she was a child, Agatha had an imaginary companion named Camilla, and now she becomes aware of the presence of Camilla herself. A key question in supernatural or paranormal fiction is whether a phenomenon is perceptible by more than one witness, and if so does that prove it was ‘real’? The servants are able to see Camilla and at first Agatha accounts for her as an orphaned distant relation, but later, asked by a policeman to account for Clarissa’s birthplace and parentage, Camilla confesses she was a ‘love child’. The servants know that Agatha could never have given birth to a child, she had scarcely left the house in her entire life, but they accept that account to satisfy enquiries. And Camilla grows into a beautiful and active teen, fond of trips to the seaside and even learning to drive a motor car. The son of a local couple, an army officer on leave, falls in love with Camilla. Agatha cannot let her go, with sad results.
Edith Olivier is one of those little-known women writers whom Virago reprinted, and I was delighted to discover her and hope to read more of her books. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a golden age of supernatural fiction and ghost stories, and though Camilla is scarcely a ghost, we are left wondering what she is really. A projection of a lonely woman’s need to love and be loved? But who can row boats and drive motor cars (albeit badly)? It is a short, quick and very moving read.
Edith Olivier is one of those little-known women writers whom Virago reprinted, and I was delighted to discover her and hope to read more of her books. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a golden age of supernatural fiction and ghost stories, and though Camilla is scarcely a ghost, we are left wondering what she is really. A projection of a lonely woman’s need to love and be loved? But who can row boats and drive motor cars (albeit badly)? It is a short, quick and very moving read.
July 2, 2024
4.5 stars.......Strange but captivating story, not lengthy by any means. Atmospheric and eerie.
October 9, 2021
Haunting, compelling and engrossing. The main character you grow to love and sympathise with and also feel immense sorrow as she feels the loneliness of her situation. Both parents dead, no friends or her own family only servants to order and talk to until an old childhood friend starts to become real and eventually opens her eyes to a new world. This is a tale about loneliness, depression and also love and the bonds and ties that bind us to one an another. Seriously get this book now, this is the perfect book to read during these chilly autumnal days
June 12, 2018
Brilliant use of pacing and detail. I became convinced of the Love-Child's existence right along with the other characters in this novella. A short read that stayed with me. Highly recommend.
September 10, 2023
A strange and fantastical, but also wonderfully interesting story! This is my first introduction to Edith Olivier and I truly enjoyed her easy writing style. I wasn't at all sure where the story was going, but I was riveted until the last page.
My copy of the book, the British Library Women Writers series, seemed to stop abruptly. I had no idea that the last section (about 1/3 of the book) is various other writings by the author and not The Love Child. I had to go back and reread the last few pages because I thought there would be at least another twist or more information about Agatha or Clarissa.
Overall, I really liked the book and I'll be keeping my eye out for more books by Edith Olivier in the future!
My copy of the book, the British Library Women Writers series, seemed to stop abruptly. I had no idea that the last section (about 1/3 of the book) is various other writings by the author and not The Love Child. I had to go back and reread the last few pages because I thought there would be at least another twist or more information about Agatha or Clarissa.
Overall, I really liked the book and I'll be keeping my eye out for more books by Edith Olivier in the future!
April 26, 2021
Synopsis:
The Love Child was written by Edith Olivier and published in 1927. This novel is about a woman named Agatha who when her mother dies starts to think about her imaginary friend from childhood, Clarissa. The more she thinks about her she becomes real to her and slowly to everyone else around her as well.
What I Thought:
This slim novel ended up having such an interesting and magical tale within it’s pages. I enjoyed the story very much. The psychological complexity of the novel was what made it stand out. Agatha seems to conjure Clarissa initially because she is lonely. She has never had many friends at all in the world and it makes sense the moment she is alone she wants to create one. One could say as Clarissa becomes like a daughter to her ( that’s where the title comes from she tells a policeman who badgers her into filling out adoption papers that Clarissa is a ‘love child’) she is lonely in the way a spinster is who feels she can never have children. Yet, as the novel goes on it appears that Clarissa may not just be a friend or daughter to help Agatha’s loneliness. She may be a part of Agatha. A version of youth that Agatha never was. Clarissa wants to read the books Agatha could never read, she wants to learn to drive, to go to a dance and to go on a picnic. Eventually love finds her, which ends up bringing the novel to a tense climax. Clarissa is exposed to the kind of life Agatha could never have. Therefore this isn’t only a novel about loneliness, but of repression. There’s definitely also an undertone of the old world vs. the new world. Agatha lives in her family home and lives a very quiet traditional life. Clarissa takes interest in cars and learns the foxtrot. The modern life of the 1920’s starts to bring tension against the old way.
Do I Recommend It?:
Yes! This quaint little book had a lot to it’s magical story. I recommend it to those that like forgotten women’s literature from the first half of the 20th century. Also, to people who like just a touch of magic in their books. I believe it is currently out of print, but I didn’t have much trouble finding a used paperback from the 80’s.
November 29, 2021
I read the British Library's Women Writer Series edition. Finished it in one sitting. Very interesting. The BL edition also has additional writing big Olivier like her experience on writing , Oxford days (meeting Lewis Carroll), Great War etc. The afterward by Dr. Simon David is also very instructive - highly recommend the British Library's Women Writers series
April 7, 2018
Es una novela curiosa. Interesante aunque le falta algo para cautivarme.
June 14, 2019
Edith Olivier publicó esta novela, la primera que escribiera, a los 55 años. Corría 1927.
Una delicia que habla de la soledad, de la pérdida y de una extraña maternidad.
Y sí, es fantástico.
La historia de una mujer que tiene una amiga imaginaria a la que todo el mundo ve.
Una de esas cosas que me habría gustado escribir incluso a pesar de lo que pesa demasiado en ella debido a la época.
Una delicia que habla de la soledad, de la pérdida y de una extraña maternidad.
Y sí, es fantástico.
La historia de una mujer que tiene una amiga imaginaria a la que todo el mundo ve.
Una de esas cosas que me habría gustado escribir incluso a pesar de lo que pesa demasiado en ella debido a la época.
September 2, 2014
I've wanted to read this ever since glimpsing it in a second hand bookshop some sixteen years ago. I've always loved stories about imaginary friends, and this was the first I'd heard of with an adult protagonist. Not to mention its incredibly rare conceit of the friend actually coming to life, which I have yet to see elsewhere.
Agatha is a drab, socially awkward woman whose emotional and creative life was blasted in her teens. The catalyst? Her cold logician of a governess dismissing her imaginary friend, Clarissa. Though on the elfin, hyperactive side, Clarissa is enchanting - just the sort of girl a stodgy, unremarkable child would want to be. When Agatha's mother dies, she is forced to acknowledge that the only meaningful relationship in her life was with Clarissa - and then unaccountable things begin to happen. The puckish childhood playmate is now recast as a wholly dependent daughter, and Agatha loves her with a jealous passion.
It's a slender book, quickly devoured. At times I wished that Agatha would be a little less neurotic and unsympathetic - but then a more balanced woman would already have a partner and possibly children of her own, so not need Clarissa. Although written in 1927, it seemed reassuringly modern and straightforward in style. I wish we could have seen more of Clarissa "growing up" - she skips from eleven to seventeen in the space of a page - but the showdown between Agatha and David, Clarissa's priggish suitor, is superb. I also loved the thumbnail sketches of various villagers, who sense something very odd is going on in their midst but don't know what.
Shows more spark and originality than many books twice its length. I'll definitely read more books by Edith Olivier.
Agatha is a drab, socially awkward woman whose emotional and creative life was blasted in her teens. The catalyst? Her cold logician of a governess dismissing her imaginary friend, Clarissa. Though on the elfin, hyperactive side, Clarissa is enchanting - just the sort of girl a stodgy, unremarkable child would want to be. When Agatha's mother dies, she is forced to acknowledge that the only meaningful relationship in her life was with Clarissa - and then unaccountable things begin to happen. The puckish childhood playmate is now recast as a wholly dependent daughter, and Agatha loves her with a jealous passion.
It's a slender book, quickly devoured. At times I wished that Agatha would be a little less neurotic and unsympathetic - but then a more balanced woman would already have a partner and possibly children of her own, so not need Clarissa. Although written in 1927, it seemed reassuringly modern and straightforward in style. I wish we could have seen more of Clarissa "growing up" - she skips from eleven to seventeen in the space of a page - but the showdown between Agatha and David, Clarissa's priggish suitor, is superb. I also loved the thumbnail sketches of various villagers, who sense something very odd is going on in their midst but don't know what.
Shows more spark and originality than many books twice its length. I'll definitely read more books by Edith Olivier.
November 2, 2021
A tale of solitude and the power of the mind.
The Love Child is a story where delusion and reality mingle, and the deepest desires become a reality.
Agnes, a 31yo spinster, was totally alone after the passing of her cold and emotionally distant mother.
Feeling lonely and unfulfilled, Agnes searched for memories of her childhood imaginary friend Clarissa and started to interact with her.
Clarissa firstly materialized only to Agnes, but with time, she became visible to everyone in the household. Finally, forced to justify Clarissa’s presence, Agnes claimed her as a love child.
It was painful to witness how even Clarissa, the fruit of Agnes’ own imagination, preferred the companionship of the young neighbors once she grew up.
The story seems so real despite the blatant surrealism of Clarissa’s existence. I dare say I have met a parent or two even more needy and domineering than Agnes (lol).
I enjoyed the paranormal element even more after reading the included excerpt of the author’s autobiography and her firm belief in “things past explaining.”
I thought that the author’s excursion to Avebury was a tale that deserved a book of its own. How delightful! True or not, I was entranced by her recounting of the experience.
The Love Child is a tad different from the other stories I read in the series so far but no less entrancing.
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The Love Child is a story where delusion and reality mingle, and the deepest desires become a reality.
Agnes, a 31yo spinster, was totally alone after the passing of her cold and emotionally distant mother.
Feeling lonely and unfulfilled, Agnes searched for memories of her childhood imaginary friend Clarissa and started to interact with her.
Clarissa firstly materialized only to Agnes, but with time, she became visible to everyone in the household. Finally, forced to justify Clarissa’s presence, Agnes claimed her as a love child.
It was painful to witness how even Clarissa, the fruit of Agnes’ own imagination, preferred the companionship of the young neighbors once she grew up.
The story seems so real despite the blatant surrealism of Clarissa’s existence. I dare say I have met a parent or two even more needy and domineering than Agnes (lol).
I enjoyed the paranormal element even more after reading the included excerpt of the author’s autobiography and her firm belief in “things past explaining.”
I thought that the author’s excursion to Avebury was a tale that deserved a book of its own. How delightful! True or not, I was entranced by her recounting of the experience.
The Love Child is a tad different from the other stories I read in the series so far but no less entrancing.
Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 3, 2015
Edith Olivier’s first slight little novel; The Love Child is a wonderful, quirky little fantasy. Part dark hearted fairy-tale, it is a story of an obsession born of loneliness.
Agatha Bodenham has lived a quiet, largely solitary life with her mother. When she is thirty-two her mother dies, and Agatha finds herself alone but for the servants. She remembers the friend and great joy of her childhood – Clarissa. Clarissa her imaginary friend with whom she played and had adventures, but who Agatha had to rid herself of at fourteen when her governess mocked her. Now, with loneliness swamping her, Agatha finds she can summon up the image of Clarissa – just as she was all those years ago.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
Agatha Bodenham has lived a quiet, largely solitary life with her mother. When she is thirty-two her mother dies, and Agatha finds herself alone but for the servants. She remembers the friend and great joy of her childhood – Clarissa. Clarissa her imaginary friend with whom she played and had adventures, but who Agatha had to rid herself of at fourteen when her governess mocked her. Now, with loneliness swamping her, Agatha finds she can summon up the image of Clarissa – just as she was all those years ago.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
January 11, 2013
It's not what it sounds like. Published in 1927, this odd little novelette is about a lonely, mid-30's spinster whose mother has just died. Alone in the house (except for the servants), she remembers that as a child, she had an imaginary friend, Clarissa, whom she had to give up when a new governess shamed Agatha about it. Now, friendless and alone, she tries to rekindle Clarissa. She's so successful that other people begin to be able to see her...and things get weirder from there. A nice exploration of loneliness, desperation, and the restrictions of the era. Has the feel of a gothic ghost story, without all the hand-wringing and hysteria. Short enough to read in one evening.
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March 19, 2021some of us create imaginary friends who then come to life, buy her a monkey, teach her how to drive, dance and play tennis, and then destroy her once she becomes wanted by someone else.... to cope !!!!
April 30, 2021
I enjoyed this, even though the writing is a little flat at times. What does one do when an imaginary friend, that you love and fills your days, becomes real? And what happens when she finds a will of her own?
October 4, 2015
The spinster and the sprite! 'Made of mischief and magic'. A spellbinding novel!
May 17, 2018
The creepiest book I have ever read.
March 2, 2022
This was a really sweet little novella. Agatha is very relatable in a lot of ways, and Clarissa is really charming overall. The excerpts at the end are enjoyable too.
March 2, 2022
Duplicate copy of other version. The kindle edition wasn’t part of the other entry, and I wanted my notes housed here.
September 20, 2022
The love child by Edith Oliver was a great escape to a fantasy type existence. . Agatha Bodenham is alone after her mother dies. As a child she had a secret fantasy friend, Clarissa. With the death of her mother, Clarissa starts to up appear again. At first just Agatha sees Clarissa but, overtime everyone begins to see her.How can Agatha explain the presence of Clarissa in her life. I am reading this book for a Facebook group so I cannot say more. This book was written in 1927 but, it’s still relevant today. I will say that this is a wonderful story that really makes you think about whether or not what is happening with Agatha is real or fantasy. I highly recommend this. Enjoy
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