Since I haven't blogged in a while I thought I would write about two books I recently finished. Both library books and both touch on the topics of adults in love with teenagers. In the Edith Wharton book, the Children, the affair is never consummated while in the Zoe Heller book (above) the affair is more than consummated. Both books are products of their times, I suppose.
The Children describes a sub group called "hotel children" that apparently existed previous to WW2 where children would wander around in hotels as their parents and step-parents sauntered from fashionable resort to fashionable resort. This during an era when the children of the rich did not have to go to school but, perhaps with the aid of a tutor, wander the earth until they had the opportunity to marry, presumably to marry well. Today even the most idle of the rich send their children to schools. I guess it is the post WW2 obsession with education, at least in the West.
The protagonist, Martin, unknowingly falls in love with a fifteen year old, even though he is betrothed to someone of his own age and class. This is a fun book, and like most Edith Wharton, is a pleasurable read.
The next book, Notes on a Scandal is great fun. The author's voice is herself somewhat eccentric, which adds to the intrigue as the hint of lesbos appears. Apparently she is bored with the people at work whom she has known for years, and becomes fascinated when a new, exciting female school teacher enters the faculty. She vies for attention with this new novelty in the form of an attractive crafts teacher. The teacher, however, is more interested in the novelty of a fifteen year old boy.
The weird thing about the story is that the school teacher is presented as a likeable character, even if she is going against the "thou shalt not sleep with thy students" taboo. Martin is also likeable, the way indecisive people can be.
