Don’t we all wish it were possible? To climb back under the covers and drop all responsibility for life, even and especially the responsibility for looking after everyone else in the family. This is the situation at the beginning of this new novel by Sue Townsend (The Diary of Adrian Mole), The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year, where Eva decides to go back to bed and stay there. Her twins have left to start university, and she will shortly find out that her astrophysicist husband Brian has been having an affair with his colleague Titania.
As the story unfolds, the consequences of Eva staying in bed are far-reaching (and go beyond what she is to do about going to the toilet), and all the family members are revealed as really, rather weird. The back cover claims that, “though the world keeps intruding, it is from the confines of her bed that Eva at last begins to understand freedom.” I’d take that with a grain of salt.
I’m liking
The title. Conjures up all sorts of wishful thinking on the part of a busy mum…. ! And occasionally one or other of the characters is likeable.
Things that made me go hmmmm
In my opinion, a novel should be enjoyable to read, or have a message that makes you think. Or even both, if you’re lucky! This novel failed those criteria for me; I’m afraid I just don’t enjoy Sue Townsend’s type of humour. While I may like the idea of going back to bed for a while, I quickly lost sympathy with Eva who actually did it for months on end. I couldn’t even get interested in Brian, who makes no effort to care about Eva. Or in all the loopy people who come to seek advice from Eva and camp outside her house. Or in the twins Brian Jr and Brianne, who have no ability to interact normally with others. Or in their pushy, pathological acquaintance Poppy. Or in all the relationships between hopelessly unsuitable combinations of people.
The conclusion
I’m willing to concede that there may be people – even many people – who like Sue Townsend’s books. And to them I say, go for it. The print is large, the story isn’t too taxing on the brain, and it’s probably pretty funny for those in the know.
