Mary Westmacott’s books are like a cup of good old strong English tea in the afternoon. And this is my sixth ‘cup’, I mean book! Several reviewers and many other readers believe that her books are mere love stories which are bittersweet; however I think that it is not an accurate description of these books. Westmacott’s books are a wonderful exploration of human relationships and offer us an insightful analysis of the way the human mind works. Reading this particular one, made me think that perhaps Freud has been overrated as a psychoanalyst, I feel that Westmacott would have done brilliantly as one as well, or maybe better. Her understanding of human nature just takes my breath away every time I read her books.If you have read my earlier review of another one of Westmacott’s (The Burden) then you will perhaps know in detail why I wanted to read her books in the first place and what I think of the books in general. So, I will not repeat myself here but will say that I am happy that I have read all of Westmacott’s and this last one that I have read-Giant’s Bread is certainly one of her finest! Hitherto, I used to think that Absent In The Spring was the best among the six, but after reading Giant’s Bread, I would day both the books rank alongside as being the finest of her works- two masterpieces instead of one! What a marvelous writer!Giant’s Bread is an extremely moving and real portrait of the human race. The characters are so neatly fleshed out and their inner life so deftly explored that the reader seems to at least indentify with one of the characters in the novel. The novel is a haunting portrayal of the difference between appearances and reality, of who we think we are and who we really are, so the battle between the unconscious and the conscious desire is very well played out by Westmacott in this novel. That is why as I earlier put it, I would hesitate to just call it a love story. It would really be a reductification (sic) of the powerful plot and characters that Westmacott weaves for us. The most beautiful thing about this novel is the plot and the characters; it keeps the readers hooked to know more about what happens on the next page and then the next. Though, I must add that a few descriptions and/or incidents seemed a little superfluous to the plotline of the novel, for example the whole nursing experience that Nell goes through and the prologue itself which could have been reduced to a large extent. Also, one would have liked to know a little more about Joe and what she was actually up to in the novel. I do understand that she was not a central character, however, her story is very importantly linked to Vernon’s and so it would have been nice if we could have had known a little more about her than just a sketchy detail about her life. I need to mention a line or two about Vernon’s childhood. Westmacott surpassed her own excellence by giving us a marvelous account of Vernon’s childhood. The musings and experiences of a young boy are brilliantly captured by the writer and she does realize as a ‘psychoanalytical’ writer that our experiences as children shape our future selves. This is very true in the case of Vernon, who is always afraid of ‘The Beast’ and that determines what he becomes later on as a man. Having said that I must add here that Westmacott tends to over- dramatize the plot and the characters sometimes which borders on the incredulous and quite frankly on lines of a Bollywood movie, if I may. This is true of the Giant’s Bread as much as it is true for The Burden. However, this little ‘artistic license’ which I like to call it does not diminish your reading experience in any way and it is sometimes is shocking to the reader as well and can also enhance the reading experience of some readers. Westmacott also deserves full marks for giving us an accurate description of England in the early half of the twentieth century. She shows us how the elite upper class and the bourgeois or the middle class was in England at the time and the only thing that disturbs me in her books is the thinly veiled racism that runs in almost all of her Westmacott books. The East is always seen as ‘Exotic’ and is the ‘Other’, the ‘mysterious unknown ‘, for that matter even Americans are not spared in this book. I have a feeling that most English writers have this queer sense of being ‘British’ and consequently ‘ superior’ in every way and that comes across in almost all the novels that you read which have been written by a British author. This is true of a Westmacott, Dahl or even an Ian McEwan book. I do realize that I am in the danger of generalizing and stereotyping, but one can’t but help notice these things. I must add though that I can forgive this in Westmacott as she is not a racist per se, unlike Dahl whose Going Solo ( refer to review ) still gives me the chills for its overt racism dripping from every page of the book.If you have never read any of Westmacott’s, then this book is a good place to start and I promise you will want to read the rest of them as well, you are bound to find yourself in either Nell, Sebastian, Joe or in Vernon and Jane. Maybe we all can be divided very simply in to a Nell or a Jane. Think about it. I, for one, am happy and satisfied that I have enjoyed all six cups of the brilliant ‘tea’ that Westmacott so lovingly made for her faithful readers. The heart is left wanting though and it yearns for one more ‘cup’ of the brilliant Westmacott ‘tea’.
I was completely taken by this book from the first moment of the prologue which is also an epilogue since it is the result of the story you are about to read... That is the first thing that grips you about this, you know the result, but how did it come to this?Giant's Bread is about Vernon Deyre and his passion for music, a passion he never fully embraces because of the different hurdles to it : a house he loves, the people around him, a fear of his childhood nemesis "The Beast". It is quite difficult to express how complex the story is without resorting to spoilers which I wont do because I loved discovering the intricacies myself and I wouldn't want to steal this from another reader. Vernon is an Artist, but life has a knack to get in his way.There's a couple of twists to the story that are clichéd, but it is difficult to judge if these were fresh in 1930 (year of first publication), it is hard to see a book as a reader of the time would, our lives always inform our reading and sometimes it makes something feel like an overused plot point when it might have been quite clever at the time and sometimes our eyes sees things even the author couldn't have meant.I do like how Agatha Christie writes characters, they always feel real and possible and that was, to me, her greatest gift and why she is still one of my favorite author though my journey of discovering her for the first time is quickly coming to an end, I feel sad about it because I'll never experienced her for the first time again, on the other hand I'll be able to see much more on second and third readings and I think Giant's Bread is one of those stories where you can discover more with rereading. A great book.
What do You think about Giant's Bread (2014)?
In all honesty, the back of the book is a little misleading:"Vernon Deyre is a sensitive and brilliant musician, even a genius. But there is a high price to be paid for his talent, especially by his family and the two women in his life. His sheltered childhood in the home he loves has not prepared Vernon for the harsh reality of his adult years, and in order to write the great masterpiece of his life, he has to make a crucial decision with no time left to count the cost..."Misleading in the way that it doesn't become clear until the very end what sacrifices and crucial decision it's referring to and that those are only a small part of the story. Looking back, I feel the story is far more about Vernon's personal struggle with his talent and life in general. That said, the book is about sacrifice and about knowing yourself. In a sense, it's a journey of discovery undertaken by 5 very different characters who know themselves and each other to varying degrees.Since the book plays before and during WWI and was written between the two wars, it also offers a great insight in the goings on of that period: opinions on the war, women's suffrage, the change in position between man and woman, modernization and other things. Now, I must admit I haven't read anything else by Agatha Christie (Mary Westmacott's 'real' identity), so I cannot compare. I can only parrot what it says on the back of the book, that this was Christie's first attempt at proving her writing was good enough on it's own merrit and didn't need her well established name as a mystery/crime writer to sell. I'd say she made her point, but I'm not unhappy to know that she went on proving this for several other books. One point I have to make: there's a twist in the plot that heavily hints towards mystery books anyway.The book's read thread is the life of Vernon, followed from infancy to an unspecified age in adulthood. My best guess is forties. But throughout the 4 books that make up the story, we also follow part of other characters lives and in that way, see Vernon in a different light. The book features lots of unrequited love and relationship mistakes, but manages to steer clear of melodrama or soapy elements while doing so. It explores the influence and relationships with parents, friends, lovers and enemies and the outside influences that shape them. All the while moving steadily towards a conclusion, which keeps you turning the pages.Westmacott (Christies) style is fluent and engaging, speckled with the occasional dusting of humor or drama to lighten or burden the mood in just the right places. I especially liked her portrayal as Vernon of a child: astute, honest and at times hilarious.All in all Giant's Bread made for a very enjoyable book. Wonderful bath- or bedtime reading. The theme left me wondering however. How much of this struggle with talent was autobiographical?
—Dana Bolink
While this book shows promise, the characters lack a certain cohesiveness. The two characters that I found most interesting were Jane and Joe. It was as if Joe as a child was independent but then was almost trapped (by genetics?) in following a path similar to her mother's - a path of pain resulting from unwise decisions. Jane followed her own path doing what she felt was right. She was free to be herself.Jane to Nell: "The will of God! Would you be able to say that, if God's will didn't happen to coincide with Nell Chetwynd's comfort, I wonder? You don't know anything about God or you couldn't have spoken like that, gently patting God on the back for making life comfortable and easy for you. Do you know a text that used to frighten me in the Bible? This night shall thy soul be required of thee." When God requires your soul of you, be sure you've got a soul to give him!"
—Trudy Pomerantz
This is the story of Vernon Deyre, a musical prodigy. He is born to wealthy but unhappily married parents. He grows up to be a struggling composer. Just when he is finally getting an opera produced, WWI breaks out and changes everything. The main characters of the book, besides quiet and gifted Vernon, are his materialistic and intelligent friend Sebastian, his headstrong and independent cousin Jo, the childish and conventional Nell, whom he loves, and spirited and strong Jane, who intrigues him. Christie tells parts of the story from Nell's and Sebastian's points of view. Giant's bread poses an interesting question: what are the costs of our choices in life? Although the social conventions are different today, there are still choices to be made: am I prepared to sacrifice everything I own, or the good opinion of others, for personal integrity and happiness? The Westmacott boooks are not love stories with happy endings, so you should steer clear of them if you want those. Agatha Christie gets a lot of criticism for one-dimensional characters in her crime stories. I find that these characters stay with me long after I finish reading. Someone described the motif of these more rounded-out stories as "crimes of the heart", and I agree. The language is simple, and there is occasionally some stream of consciousness.
—Heather80
