Abstract
The Church of England has provided a spiritual home for generations of Englishwomen who have helped and supported it, observing its inspired and odd ways. Until recently, they have been observers from the pew rather than actors at the altar and pulpit. This has given them time and space to reflect on the nature of the Church and its formation of individuals and communities. A surprising number of gifted women have carried out that comment and observation through fiction. This collection of essays is a masterly and delightful celebration of their work.
From the evangelical children’s stories of Charlotte Maria Tucker, to the wistful and romantic Rose Macaulay, to the dark awareness of evil in P. D. James, to the gently acerbic observations of Barbara Pym, to the combination of Christian seriousness and human warmth in the novels of Elizabeth Goudge, Anglican women have written stories that not only entertained generations but also reflected the multifaceted faith of the established Church and the formative impact it has had on the lives of communities and individuals. Anyone wanting to understand the social and moral impact of the Church of England through time would be enriched by this volume.
A collection of essays is a difficult genre. This collection is brilliantly conceived and masterfully edited. Not only is the choice of authors wide and diverse, the different voices and perspectives genuinely complement and inform one another so that the whole leaves an impression of a developing tradition that is greater than the individual parts. In a collection such as this there are bound to be favourites. I particularly enjoyed Nancy Jiwon Cho’s analysis of the fiction of Charlotte Maria Tucker, partly because it was so unexpected, putting fictional flesh on a movement that has contributed so much to the Church of England while being always somewhat at odds with its theological centre. Jessica Martin’s essay on Dorothy L. Sayers is beautifully judged and insightful, both about Sayers and her characters and in her exploration of the peculiarities of English detective fiction. Judith Maltby’s treatment of Rose Macaulay’s novels brings out the poignancy as well as the humour of the author’s longing for the transcendent dimension that the Church still, even in its comedy, somehow manages to represent. Peter Hawkins’ essay on Iris Murdoch balances an appreciation of the author’s Platonizing moralism with her slightly disturbing habit of manipulating her characters into unspeakable difficulties in which they are bound to fail. In an afterword, Francis Spufford asks whether Anglican women novelists will continue to have such a distinctive voice in the future. Two things have changed: the virtual collapse of Anglicanism as the spiritual glue of our national life and the fact that, since their admission to holy orders, women are no longer observers and recipients of the Church’s ministry but ministers in their own right.