The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt

A Smiling Jug

I’m on page 266 now of a 600-something page book. I’ve got book darts to mark pages; I’ve got images downloaded from the web, satisfying my curiosity to remember/learn more about the Victorian Era; I’ve got a map of England; I’ve  gotten out my favorite Victorian Poetry book from school. This novel has turned me into a total book nerd. I carry the book wherever I go. And right now, I am really worried about one of the characters–as if he were alive. I’m pathetic.

I am reading an advanced copy of The Children’s Book by A. S. Byatt. It’s due out October 1st.

So you know already that the novel takes place in Victorian Era England through to World War I. Page 266 is still in the 1890s: a conservative government is in place but socialism is the buzz. William Morris textiles and tapestries are in the homes of the well-to-do, his poetry and prose read. The Arts and Crafts Movement–the romantic idealization of the craft of handmade goods in response to the increasing presence of machine-made goods–is the backdrop for much of the novel.

Olive Wellwood is a published writer of fairy tales. She is inspired by The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. In Olive’s circles, feminism is discussed, socialism and anarchy. Benedict Fludd is a talented and moody potter with a wife and daughters he describes as “pallid silk moths.” There is Prosper Cain who is the caretaker of precious metals at a museum. Philipp is the poor young boy found in the underground passage ways of the museum sleeping in an ancient Turkish crypt, his parents, workers/artisans in the pottery factories. Philipp worked in the bottle kilns in Burslem of Stoke-on-Trent in England. Yes, this was the child labor of the time. (This area is still home today–I believe–to Wedgewood, Spode, Portmeiron and Royal Doulton.)

Byatt mingles her characters with references to persons and events from the history books, and she skillfully deepens and interweaves the lives of these characters as children grow up and adults get older with Olive continuing to craft her fairy tales in the background of much change.

Needless to say, I love this book and am relishing every page. I had not read Byatt before, so I am wondering how this novel compares to her others. I do know that she won the Booker Prize for Possession in 1990 and The Children’s Book is longlisted for the Booker 2009. Also, Byatt has a sister who is also a published novelist. This sister, Margaret Drabble, has a memoir just out this week entitled Pattern in the Carpet. All very curious and stimulating indeed. I’ll keep you posted on The Children’s Book. I’m afraid you might even get tired of me–but oh well!

The St. Martin Brothers are referenced in the novel. I think whimsical and fanciful subjects--as in the jug to the right--capture some of the atmosphere.

Bottle Kilns in Burslem: Though the pottery houses employed workers who died tragically from lead poisoning, from a distance these kilns have been said to have the aura of a fairy tale.