The Loved and Envied

by Enid Bagnold

The scene of most of this novel is France, and the milieu is aristocratic, yet the chief characters are Scottish or American. Lady Maclean, wife of Sir Gynt, is the heroine. She had been -- and still is -- a great beauty. A the Chateau of Little Pouilly she holds her court. The courtiers are mostly ageing members of the French nobility. Some are in love with her, all are her admirers. Women admire her, too. She has wit and charm as well as beauty. The secret of her spell is not divulged to the reader. Indeed, the spell itself has to be taken on trust, though its potency, its effect, can be observed.But 'beauty vanishes, youth passes, however rare, rare it be.' This is a story of the evanescence of youth and beauty, a story of growing old, gracefully and contentedly if possible, seeing love survive or wither away. It is a story especially of a mother and daughter, each wanting to be loved by the other, each aware that their relationship lacked the one thing to make it perfect.No novel of recent years has penetrated so deeply into the mysteries of human love in all its manifestations or dwelt so wisely and beautifully on the theme of encroaching age.-- flyleaf (quoting Daniel George in the BROADSHEET)

Genres: Classics, Fiction, France, Literary Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1941

About the author

British writer of novels and plays, best known for National Velvet and The Chalk Garden.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enid_Bag...

Reviews

[Maeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter Sinead alerted me to a podcast called Backlisted, which I HIGHLY recommend. Your reading list will grow by leaps and bounds after you listen, cause it features underappreciated or forgotten novels/writers. I heard one outstanding episode on Virago Press and realized I have a number of Virago Press books around the house, so I'm making an effort to read them (and then pass them on to Sinead.) Sylvia Warner Townsend (Collected Stories, and Lolly Willowes) was one author I uncovered through the podcast. The Loved and Envied was also sitting on my shelf--and while Enid Bagnold is a considerably different personality than Townsend, I found this a charming and at times exceedingly funny novel about British aristocracy living, for the most part, in France. I'm not sure if the humor is deliberate or if the circumstances are just so old fashioned and outlandish that I found it funny, but there are several scenes that had me laughing out loud. And, of course, it's all about wealth and aging, though aging at that time is a bit different from aging these days (at least to most people!)

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating look at a fading class of expat aristocrats: American, Italian, and Scottish living in France in the 1950s. Centering on Lady Ruby Maclean the various, mostly middle aged characters, come to terms with their lives as they become conscious of missed opportunities, regrets over actions they didn’t take and words they didn’t speak. Love is the biggest disappointment as well as the meaning of life when you have all the material assets. I found this to be a shockingly honest story with the characters speaking about all the ways they weren’t honest in the many twists and turns of their lives.

The character list is long with each connected to Ruby in some way. The “loved and envied” of the title is a kind-hearted woman well aware that most people she meets are either in awe or in love with her. They all have quirks or are downright eccentric as life dealt them blows they couldn’t always overcome. But I was captivated by their perseverance which made the book a page turner for me.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will read anything published by Virago/Penguin. I will always be happy with my choice.

One must bring patience to this novel. It might have worked better structurally as linked short stories. As it is, Bagnold is constantly forced to gently remind her readers where we are in time, and if we haven't been keeping a chart of the characters--well, good luck!

But it's worth the effort! The loved and envied woman at the center of the story is one of its least interesting characters, sadly. Perhaps I've had a stunted life: I've never met anyone so beautiful that I was willing to forgo an interesting character to be so besotted with the face. The people around Ruby, though, are each entirely and quirkily themselves. Edouard and his mistress Rose, Gynt and Miranda, the impossible duchess with her absurd black bows and diamonds, the lesbian painter and her estranged playwright husband (both self-absorbed and heartless, one for the sake of her art, and one for the sake of what he imagines is his art), all the way to each dog (there are several): Bagnold allows us to make their intimate acquaintance.

How can I not love a book that allows a rotten husband to die by mistakenly hacking his own leg and bleeding to death? How can I not love a book that allows a devoted elderly lover to drop dead while putting on his shoes and his mistress to die of heart failure a few days later? How can I not love a book about aging and death, about loving and envying love?

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A study of ageing (I think!), and the loves, jealousies and missed opportunities of a group of elderly aristocrats and their circle living (mainly) in France. It's quite a complicated group, characterised by immense wealth and property but a lack of younger people - no heirs, in several cases (partly because of the said missed opportunities). Although this is allegedly the story of Lady Maclean I found the early focus on another couple's secret long-term relationship threw me off feeling that this was so. The selfishness of some of these people, who never really seem to have planned for the future at all, is quite remarkable, and the sudden death of one of them raises a lot of interesting questions as in the end the secret is revealed (but might never have been). Thought-provoking.

[Aida Mae Perez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to pause the music I was listening to when I finished the book. I felt a little sad that I had to stare at a blank space, and listen to an unknown background noise. It is just that I did not expect how the author will end the story!

I cannot say that I love the story, but I am amazed how Enid narrated different lives, emotions and way of thinking. The pictures of every character and places are vivid. I also did not expect the little plot twist. Lol

I am not giving this book a perfect score because even though the words used are easy to comprehend; the transition of scenes are kind of rough.

[Lila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel on a group of aging aristocratic types can be fruitfully compared to Elizabeth von Arnim's Loving. It focuses on Ruby and her cast of admirers as she deals with the loss of beauty, her daughter, who makes poor choices in men, and the need of women to find a male supporter. Unlike Von Arnim's novel, she decides not to take a younger lover. The writing presents a witty view of a group of privileged eccentrics, quite unexpected from the author of National Velvet.

[Lise Arin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant take on love, beauty, manners, aging and death among expat aristocrats in France at mid-century. Witty. Elegiac. Devastating, even, but its power will only be deeply appreciated by readers of middle-age or more.

[Gloria Mitchell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this quite hard to get into the story but I did read it right through

[Mathilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a very great pleasure in age, as at all times, to find one knows what to do.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book kind of depressed me when I read it, and it may not be the author's absolute best book, but it's a very good one and felt really honest. And my gosh how Enid can write! Most of her books are under-appreciated.

[Vashti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, great writing. The book is part of my annual reading list.

[Alexandra Daw · Rating 4 out of 5]

a thoughtful read.