The Reading Party by Fenella Gentlemen

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Muswell Press (14 Jun. 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1999811720
• ISBN-13: 978-1999811723

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

“It is the seventies and the colleges of Oxford are finally opening their doors to women. Sarah Addleshaw, young, spirited and keen to prove her worth, begins term as the first female academic at her college. She is in fact, her college s only female Fellow . Impulsive love affairs with people, places and the ideas in her head beset Sarah throughout her first exhilarating year as a don, but it is the Reading Party, that has the most dramatic impact. Asked to accompany the first mixed group of students on the annual college trip to Cornwall, Sarah finds herself illicitly drawn to one of them, the suave American Tyler. Torn between professional integrity and personal feelings she faces her biggest challenge to date. ”

Review

The Reading Party follows Sarah Addleshaw as she starts her new position as the first female academic at Oxford University.  At her college, woman have only recently been accepted to study, so it a new era at one of Englands most prestigious universities.  With this role comes a lot of responsibility, how she handles both herself and her position will pave the way for other female Fellows.

The Reading Party title is reference to a week, during the Easter break, when certain students were chosen to go to Cornwall for a week of reading and revision and some leisurely pursuits like walking and games to relax.  Previous to Sarah joining the faculty, the party has always been male only, but in 1976, Sarah is asked to join the party so that female students may be included.  This week away, and its aftermath, are an important part of Sarah’s first year; she is representative for the female students and can bring in some new ideas to a week away that has always been taken by Professor Loxton.

This is a brilliant piece of social history, it may be a work of fiction but Fenella Gentleman went to Oxford when it became mixed and actually attended tow of these reading parties.  The debate about women being allowed into higher study, and included in what was all male colleges and pursuits, and how it would work opens the plot to this book.  Sarah finds herself in position where she is only a couple of years older than some of her students.  She is uncertain of her position and the boundaries that confine her; being the first female she finds it difficult to make friends with her male colleagues, all a lot older than her, and whilst she identifies with the students, she has to remember she is their teacher.  The relationship I really enjoyed was between Sarah and Dennis Loxton, her colleague.  Her initial impression is that he is old fashioned and set. in his ways, but as their relationship develops she sees a different side to him, and in a way he becomes like a mentor to her.  The students away with them are a fabulous set of characters who open up the plot to different discussion points, and develop Sarah’s character.

Fenella Gentleman is a very descriptive writer.  Her attention to detail of the Cornish landscape is minute in detail, to see every crag, blade of grass; feel the sun, the wind; smell the salt in the air; she is painting a picture that you see vividly as you read.  Her characterisation is also very detailed; peoples little quirks and mannerisms are beautifully described, as are their interactions with each other and Sarah.

The Reading Party really captures the era and the changing climate for women in universities.  The descriptive prose pulls you in so you feel  you are in Cornwall with Sarah, Loxton and the students, and I loved the Epilogue as it told what happened to all the students and Loxton and Sarah after Oxford and beyond.  A wonderful and engaging story, with a certain charm about it.

 

Thank you for reading my review of The Reading Party by Fenella Gentleman, I hope you will be inspired to read it.  I appreciate all you comments, likes and follows on all social media platforms.