[Vigeommighica]

?Harriet Said...?, was written in 1958, in fact it was the very first novel Beryl Bainbridge wrote but, as it happened, when a publisher in 1972 finally agreed to publish it, it was the third of hers that was published. Bainbridge has since gone on to become one of the most renowned British novelists of her generation, but these days, several of her novels are out of print, including ?Harriet Said...?, which is a big shame. This is an excellent novel, almost flawless; it is also a short novel that contains several other novels' worth in its pages. It's a sweet recollection about childhood, a complex evocation of interpersonal dynamics and a dark meditation on the emptiness in the souls of three families, that continues to build momentum until it ends in a climax that provides no resolution nor relief to the helpless reader.

Rationality: Beryl Bainbridge’s ?Harriet Said…? shigekuni.


Really excellent.