Oh, George, Really

If you are craving a breath of sweet New England air with a touch of coolness in it, John P. Marquand's novel The Late George Apley might just be what you're looking for.

The society Marquand depicts echoes Edith Wharton: serious folks of the Boston persuasion, very conscious of propriety, frugality, and sobriety of body and soul. What a burden it must be to move in those circles if your fundamental nature doesn't fit in! And what a stern delight it is to settle into those narrow confines if you do find them comfortable!

That, in a nutshell, is Marquand's story. The novel is framed as a biography commissioned by George Apley's son, to be created through Apley's own writings. The biographer makes clear his reservations about the wisdom of the honest portrayal requested by the son, especially because he was Apley's friend -- but he perseveres, not without the occasional biographer's comment on events that he would have preferred to omit. 

Rather than being tedious, these layers make the novel even more fun. Apley's letters and papers, and occasionally letters written to him, make it clear that many things the old-fashioned Apley was proud of are things that strike a modern reader as regrettable. Attend Harvard to learn to be a gentleman and meet the right people? Let your family wrest you away from the woman you love? Choose a career that puts you in charge of other people's money because your family determines you don't have the business acumen to manage your family's fortune? Marry a suitable woman and benefit from the support (and interference!) of her family? Lament that the "Irish element" is taking over Boston? Pay hush money because you can't stand to face a scandal? Take selected friends on summer trips to a remote island, where you socialize with the guides in the evenings? Sign your grandson up for prep school the day he is born? Apley does all these things, and more.

These ordinary events stay interesting because at every turn the perceptive reader is gently challenged to reality-check Apley's conduct. It's fun, and sometimes it's hilarious. The contrasts had me laughing at every page. In the end, Apley is quite the likeable character, blind spots and foibles included. I was sorry to see him go.

Excerpt:

Dear John:--

My telegram which was sent you last night has already apprised you of the blow which has fallen upon us. It is a bitter blow and not a little shocking in that it reflects in a sense upon the family name. I had feared for some time that your Great-Uncle William's mind was wandering, and now there can be no doubt of it. Without a word of warning to me or to any other member of the family, your great-uncle has married Miss Prentiss, his trained nurse. Of course the gesture is unbecoming enough to excite ridicule, and your mother and I and all of us are deeply upset . . . . That this should have befallen your great uncle, a man of very real importance, is a sad thing. What I worry most about is that he will be remembered ludicrously on account of it. I think I am honest in saying that I do not feel concerned about the financial interest involved . . . .

Yesterday, your mother and I spent the entire day in calling on the family and on friends to say that we were completely delighted and that we had known of this for a long while. This afternoon we have given a tea at Hillcrest for your new Aunt Emeline, which is Miss Prentiss's first name. . . . 

[Biographer's note:] Such embarrassments, which are a part of life, have on the whole caused but little harm. Several former teachers, housekeepers, companions, and nurses have become in this way a recognized part of our society, and one is now pleased to acknowledge Emeline Prentiss Apley in that category. It may be added that all who have known her have come to admire her, and that today the Friday Afternoon Sewing Circle meets monthly at her home. 

[My note: There is no higher distinction in feminine society than hosting the Friday Afternoon Sewing Circle.]

Note: This book counts toward the Color Coded Reading Challenge and the Mount TBR Reading Challenge.