 |
Buy This Book |
In The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson, a recently bereaved widow finds interesting ways to supplement her income by performing as a patient for medical students, and renting out her spare room. Quiet, middle-class, and middle-aged, Mrs. Donaldson will soon discover that she rather enjoys role-play at the hospital, and the irregular and startling entertainment provided by her tenants.
In The Shielding of Mrs. Forbes, a disappointed middle-aged mother dotes on her only son, Graham, who believes he must shield her from the truth. As Graham’s double life becomes increasingly complicated, we realize how little he understands, not only of his own desires but also those of his mother.
A master storyteller dissects a very English form of secrecy with two stories of the unexpected in otherwise apparently ordinary lives.
Bennett's protagonists often find themselves trapped in unbalanced, oppressive relationships. In THE GREENING OF MRS DONALDSON, the first story in SMUT, the widower Mrs Donaldson's tormentor is her adult daughter who frowns on her mother's participation in medical students' training by enacting various ailments, and even more adamantly objects to her mother's taking in of lodgers. That both experiences lead Mrs Donaldson to belatedly discover her sexuality, and more importantly her autonomy, is a secret she must keep from her narrow-minded daughter and her "respectable" friends.
