Loving without Tears

by M.J. Farrell, Molly Keane

Virago's distinguished Modern Classics series is dedicated to the celebration of women writers of the 19th and 20th centuries and to the rediscovery and reprinting of their work.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, Literature, Novels, Literary Fiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

M.J. Farrell is a pseudonym used by Molly Keane for her earlier published novels and plays.

Reviews

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third book by Molly Keane that I've read, and she does have some recognisable character types. They are great to read about, but you wouldn't want to spend much time with them.

This novel, set in a castle in Ireland, mainly takes place over the course of a day. Angel is looking forward to the return of her son from the war; she gets a shock when he turns up with an American widow in tow, who he plans to marry. Slaney, her daughter, also seems to be at the start of a budding romance, and Tiddley, her orphaned niece, appears to have plans of her own. Angel is monstrously selfish and scheming and immediately sets about trying to ruin any relationships that her children are about to embark upon, she needs them to need her.

Funny in an infuriating way, I spent the novel hoping she'd get her comeuppance. Some very sharp dialogue and great characterisation.

[Mary Durrant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Angel the controlling mother of Slaney and Julian.
She wants the best for her children and her niece, but now they have grown up they have ideas of their own.
Tiddley the niece is a wonderful character who plays the piano which due to hard times Angel wants to sell.
The tide turns and Tiddley ends up with the person she truely loves.
Angel surprisingly lets them go with the hope of grandchildren.
A lovely book that does have a happy ending!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute joy to read. Very witty with knife-sharp dialogue and as one reviewer wrote really almost written for theatre or film. The only downside was the relentlessly horrible nature of the mother which even read as comedy was slightly overwhelming at times.

[ShellsReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written as MJ Farrell. Hugely enjoyable postwar WW2 comedy of manners, very bright witty and brittle dialogue. Reads very like a play script, very visual and super stagy with the drama taking place largely in one day in the life of Angel in her Irish castle trying and failing to control her adoring children who are all falling in love with unsuitable partners according to Angel. Angel is a marvellous character anything but angelic, in fact quite demonic in her selfishness to control everyone's lives and very much the queen bee and wanting to retain her role centre stage. And though her children ultimately defy her in their love choices their adoration continues, perhaps to be carried down one is left to infer into the next generation. Reminds very much of a Terence Rattigan play with its smart snappy dialogue. Walter the fairy Prince is hilarious with his penchant for cookery and sewing hats - and his near drowning scene where he emerges from the Irish Sea in a thong and hairnet is hilarious. Satire of society and manners at its best. Great turns of phrase, spot on descriptive passages and a tart intelligent dialogue with much left to inference. The story itself though is fairly lightweight very much verging on farce. My first Molly Keane but hope it wont be my last. Charming yet vicious ... what's not to love?

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

“’Honey and vitriol, my sweet, that’s you. Oh, you’re just a big lovely ice-cream full of steel shavings.’”

Loving without Tears is the portrait of Angel, an Anglo-Irish matriarch who lovingly enfolds her family and holds them close - with jaws that bite and claws that catch. When her son returns after the war, complete with American fiancée, Angel sharpens both tongue and talons to re-attach her baby to her apron strings.

Angel is skillfully portrayed with engagingly acidic wit. Since she always knows what’s best for her family, she dispenses venom benignly as if it were medicine. Her treats are almost as unpleasant. Her family by contrast have such stick-figure roles that it would be more amusing than dramatic if the housekeeper suddenly announced they’d all gone down to the sea and drowned. Given that the book has a staged feel - an Anglo-Irish farce, perhaps - such a turn of events would not seem implausible.

To be honest, Loving without Tears doesn’t work all that well as a novel...but it’s still a pleasure to read.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

More thirties social drama!

While Loving Without Tears has one of the most melodramatic and off-putting titles I can think of, it's actually a strong, light, black-humored exploration of a family and their power dynamic. Angel, the mother of two children, is the central pivot of the book. While she is a complete sugar-coated manipulator, she seems not to recognize this at all; she is "doing what is best for her family", and sees nothing else. Meanwhile, her newly adult children and niece, as well as her long-time estate manager, are all coming to recognize and rebel from her control.

While I was pretty happy with this book, there is definitely a slug of melodrama and predictability in the plot. This is especially apparent in the realignment of relationships. Let's just say Noel Coward would be happy with the outcome.

[Alex Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have greatly enjoyed Molly Keane's tragi-comic stories of dysfunctional families among the decaying Anglo-Irish gentry. While this novel does not have the same power as "Time After Time" or "Queen Lear" Keane's portrayal of a possessive monster mother and her manipulated household was a pleasure (and Keane's prose style, as when she describes the first meeting between the matriarch and her son's resentful fiancee, has great zest).

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really think this could have been a play...it seems so much like a period piece ...the characters enter, say their lines and pause , waiting for the audience's reaction.
The mother, Angel, is particularly well developed and as she blunders through, one cringes both for her and for her targets..
recommended!

[hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

actual rating: 3.5

angel is a widow and a devoted mother of three. she owns a castle overlooking the sea, and now she peeks out the window, waiting for her son to come. julian, her son, departed from their home for war, and when he comes back, he’s going to introduce his partner, sally, to her mother. angel doesn’t seem to like this—for her son to be taken away from her just like that. the same vexation applies to her other children’s desires: slaney loves a guy angel thinks she doesn’t deserve, and tiddley wants to keep playing the piano despite angel despising it to death. it goes without saying that angel wants to take control of their path, and she only views it as her own motherly love.

“loving without tears”  was all angel’s manipulation of how the course of events would flow. this story takes place in one place on one day, celebrating an evening party together that ends with melodramatic sequences, revealing secrets of the past and real desires. molly keane’s writing runs like a comedy-dramatic play about tyranny within a family. 

i really couldn’t say much because it was just like that: a mother’s tyrannical hold on the house and people wanting to break free from her shackles. how molly keane created the dialogue was fitting for the atmosphere of the story; however, the ending didn’t have a strong grip on my whole reading experience. it was like, “i enjoyed this, i cared for these people, and it ended that way, just that easily?”  i wanted and expected more from it. i read that it wasn’t her best work, so i may try again from this author.

[Rose Auburn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really would like to make this 3.5 stars or 3.75!! The story starts very promisingly, I could not put the first quarter of the novel down but then it's a gets a bit silly and dated in places. There is a twist in the narrative about three-quarters of the way through which I had to re-read a few times as I couldn't believe that such a preposterous development had occurred. It does veer much towards farce at the end.

However, the sheer beauty and brilliance of the descriptive imagery for both physicality and emotions escalates this novel. Some breathtakingly, lovely writing that belonged in a better story. But, I enjoyed it and polished it off in a couple of days.

[Litote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un roman qui explore les complexités des relations familiales dans exploration forte, légère et pleine d'humour noir d'une famille et de sa dynamique de pouvoir. Angel, une mère charmante au premier abord en est le pilier central, extrêmement possessive et passablement manipulatrice, elle mène son petit monde à la baguette mais jusqu'à quand ? Elle attend le retour de son fils. Julian pilote dans la RAF que les épreuves de la guerre n'ont pas épargnées. Elle a déjà planifier la vie de tous ceux qui l'entoure Slaney sa fille fera un beau mariage ect. Elle fait ce qui lui semble le plus adapté à sa famille sans se rendre compte que cela ne leur correspond peut-être pas. La rébellion couve. Le livre est placé dans le contexte de l'Irlande d'après-guerre, où la vie apparemment parfaite d'Angel est perturbée par les réalités des expériences de son fils et le fardeau émotionnel que cela impose à leur famille. L'écriture de Keane approfondit les nuances du personnage d'Angel, révélant ses forces et ses vulnérabilités alors qu'elle navigue dans les dynamiques changeantes au sein de son foyer. J'aime toujours autant suivre les tribulations de ces familles complètement dysfonctionnelles, écrites sur un ton tragi-comique. La scène de la rencontre avec la fiancée américaine de son fils est un pur plaisir. Sans oublier la nièce orpheline Tiddey qui fait apparaître ce monde en déclin de la noblesse anglo-irlandaise. Toujours d'une grande finesse dans l'exploration de la psyché humaine, l'auteure dresse un portrait riche et nuancé de ses personnages, nous permettant d'éprouver de l'empathie pour leurs luttes et leurs triomphes. Une belle exploration, poignante et perspicace de l'expérience humaine, avec une narration habile qui plonge au plus près des émotions des personnages. Un récit attachant, un rien mélodramatique démontrant les complexités de la famille, de l'amour et de la résilience de l'esprit humain. Bonne lecture.


http://latelierdelitote.canalblog.com...

[JimZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was bored to tears with this book for most of its 256 pages. It had an interesting ending however...something I had not expected so that aspect of the book lifted it from 1 star to 2.5 stars. I wish she had done away with all the flowery descriptions of houses and rooms within houses and flowers in the room and outside in the garden, and such. I finally became so exasperated I took to skimming paragraphs of the book three-quarters of the way in.

The novel was published in 1951 under her pen name, M. J. Farrell. The novel that I loved from her, Good Behaviour (and which was on the short list of the Booker Prize) was published in 1981...but I think she wrote it years before it was published. My point is that after reading Good Behaviour, which was the first book I had read by Keane, I was expecting wonderful reads from her oeuvre from thereon in, and for the most part I have been disappointed.

Reviews
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2020/...
• https://desperatereader.blogspot.com/...
• https://swiftlytiltingplanet.wordpres...

[Scott Givens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a while to build up, and some of the characters took a while to get to understand. However, the end was structurally interesting because there was the expected climax, but then there was a second climax in what you thought would be the resolution. Kind of a bummer, because the first climax would have made it a dark tale of love, but instead it became a comedy right out of Shakespeare.

Controlling mother waits for her son to return from war. When he does, he has a surprise fiancée. Mom’s daughter is experiencing her first love, and her three other semi-staff householders have their own coupling to do. Lots of moving parts, but all is believable, although a key element of the plot hinges on a Dickensian coincidence.

Four stars only because it was slow during character build-up. Maybe if I read it again I’d like it more, because I’d know where she was going with some of it!

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much of its time (just after WWII) but very enjoyable. Very theatrical - the action takes place over just a couple of days and builds to a dramatic denouement.

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic marriage plots in the drawing room novel.
It is a great read!

[Amy Gentry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is all Molly Keane "spinster lit"? This is more widow lit, really, but the spinster vibes are strong.