Clair Ashton: Oxford Romances

I have been reading Clare Ashton's sort-of trilogy of romances, centered on two friends, Charlotte and Millie, who get into the university the same year, and really hit it off beautifully.

Charlotte is an upper-middle-class child of Oxford-educated parents, while Millie is the only child of a single mother.  Charlotte is reserved and naïve; Millie is blunt and brash and outspoken and loud.

The author is quite clear-eyed about the snobbery of the place, and the annoying attitudes of Oxford boys ("men"), actually not very different from those of guys on any university or college campus.

I have noticed that those who have gone to Oxford tend to love the place to pieces; the stories are replete with descriptions of the environs, though Clare Ashton, the author, is considerably more restrained than most oxfordian authors.  Even in this story, many of the characters leave Oxford, but then return.

The characters Clare Ashton delineates over the four volumes of the 'trilogy' are very three- dimensional, including the grandparents of Charlotte and one of her friends, and some young children.  All this goes to underscore what I have tried to say, namely that an interesting author is a careful observer of everything!  Of course, we can only infer how much õf an observer an author is by reading their work, and naturally there's a lot of selection there, in what he or she chooses to record.  I just love what CA chooses to comment on, though I could use a lot less Oxford information.  (In fact, Oxford is effectively an additional character in these stories.  It is so in other stories as well, e.g. The Golden Compass.)

However, the author occasionally goes haywire, and drops one or more words in her excitement.  The language is beautiful (a long as she's aware, and keeps track of her mechanics), and she drops into colloquial lingo as and when necessary, sometimes totally cracking me up!  In these horrible days, it is just fabulous to know that there are sane, imaginative people writing fiction. 

Another author I have been enjoying is Caren Werlinger.  She writes stories that are deeply religious, and about people who are religious—in fact a community of nuns in a convent.  Now, I'm not in the least religious, and certainly not Roman Catholic, like Caren Werlinger's characters (I was an Episcopalian, and very low-church), but I can say that her stories (actually, mainly just one long story) is mainly about values.  The values of our society are splitting in two, in the Trump era, to coin a phrase—or actually, into three.  A large number, of quite articulate people, continue to be strongly grounded in values that drove the political leadership of the last fifty years.  Then there is an enormous number of people who are quite cynical.  Robber-baron wannabees.  And then, unfortunately, there are religious militants, who seek power and wealth, and are totally intolerant.  Reading Caren Werlinger, Ì'm transported to the idea-world of my childhood and youth, filled with idealism.  Popular media is full of a sort of fake, performative idealism (Theater), and the fiction of both these authors are very refreshing, for their values.

Kay