A few days ago, Karen Mace, who runs the Books And Me book blog, published her review of A Respectable Woman and declared that “I... have taken the character of Nell to my heart.” It is a sentiment that appears in many of the book’s reviews and it set me wondering why it is that readers like Nell so much.
At the start of the book, Nell is just another down-trodden back-street housewife, stretching every penny as far as she can, to try to make up for her husband Stan’s propensity for chucking his money away over the bar on the King’s Head… At least, that’s what Nell assumes he is doing with his wages.
Nell had a tough time before she met Stan and I’m sure that readers feel for her, as they learn about how she lost her brothers and her sister in the Great War, after which her darling mother simply gave up and soon passed away herself, leaving Nell not just having to fend for herself at the tender age of 16, but also to question why she wasn’t reason enough for her mother to carry on living.
Do readers feel sorry for Nell because of this? Maybe.
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But being sorry for a character isn’t enough to make you keep reading or to make you, in Karen’s words, take that character to your heart. So what is it about Nell?
Well, I think it’s to do with the way she handles her misfortunes. She has to cope with various difficulties throughout the book and she tackles them head on, with forthrightness, honesty and an unshakable resolve to do the best she possibly can for her Alf and Cassie, her children. |
* * * * the audio book cover * * * * |
She may seem tough on the outside, but that is because her life has forced her to be strong and independent. Certainly, marriage to Stan has forced her to think for herself. At one point in the story, Nell observes her friend Leonie receiving help from a mutual friend and sees that, as close as the two of them are and as much as they love one another, one very basic difference between her and Leonie is that Leonie’s long and happy marriage has encouraged her to see nothing wrong in leaning on a man and letting him make decisions for her.
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* * * * the large print cover * * * * |
Marriage to Stan, on the other hand, has taught Nell to be independent. In fact, I did consider calling the book An Independent Woman, but that title had already been used more than once.
So Nell is decisive and independent. If something needs doing, she does it. But is that enough to make readers so fond of her? |
I think it’s an important part of what readers see and appreciate in her; but I think that it’s the combination of this plus her love for her children that is the real secret of Nell’s success as a character. However resolute she has to be on the outside, on the inside she is pure mush where her beloved children are concerned. Everything she does springs from a desire to give them the best life she can.
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And then, of course, there is Nell’s secret. Everyone in the book believes her to be a widow, a fiction she is forced to maintain in order for her to be regarded as a woman of respectability and for her children not to have fingers pointed at them.
Alf and Cassie are Nell’s greatest source of joy. Her devotion to them is both her deepest strength and also her Achilles’ heel – and ultimately leads to her greatest challenge.
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hardback, paperback & e-book cover |
If you have read A Respectable Woman, I wonder if you agree with me about Nell. And what do you think of An Independent Woman as a title for Nell's story?
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