What do You think about Two Serious Ladies (2003)?
“I’m unhappy,” she said.“Again?” asked Mr. Copperfield. “What is there to be unhappy about now?”“ I feel so lost and so far away and so frightened.”Do we really need another unfulfilled-women-reach-breaking-point-and-self-destruct story? Don’t ask me – I happen to adore those. But this little gem from Mrs. Paul Bowles is not your cookie cutter crisis tale. Something inside these Two Serious Ladies has severely cracked and we’re along for the ride. These oddball seekers are a little fancy and a little artsy, and they embark on a series of bizarre and impulsive actions amongst a cast of quirky and almost equally weird husbands and roommates and strangers. There’s an overwhelming sense of “oh, fuck off” at play here; to hell with the world, these Serious Ladies said. To hell with you all, Jane Bowles seemed to be snarling.The more I read, the more my heart sank with the knowledge that this was Jane Bowles’s sole novel. Her writing spoke to me. She created a completely unexpected atmosphere of suspense and confusion and her story was unpredictable, darkly humorous, and quietly gloomy. This seemed to be her biting commentary of the social constraints that she must’ve felt as a bi but mostly gay woman married to a bi but mostly gay man (who happens to be one of my favorite writers). I was ready to adore this book; and I absolutely did. “True enough,” said Mrs. Copperfield, bringing her fist down on the table and looking very mean. “I have gone to pieces, which is a thing I’ve wanted to do for years. I know I am as guilty as I can be, but I have my happiness, which I guard like a wolf, and I have authority now and a certain amount of daring, which, if you remember correctly, I never had before.” What is a ‘normal’ life? Can happiness only be obtained through living an arbitrary existence? These ladies are longing for an authentic life, free from the ordinary and the expected. But what about sadness? What about that dark, brooding place inside? These roadblocks mean our ladies are perhaps doomed, but they’re going to go down fighting (and drinking).“Darling,” she said, “something terrible has happened to that woman, I feel it in my heart. Please don’t be bad-tempered with her.”Also, this book is really funny. Funny-sad, funny-strange. “Well, lady,” he said to her, “are you an artist too?”“No,” said Miss Goering. “I wanted to be a religious leader when I was young and now I just reside in my house and try not to be too unhappy.”There’s something unsettling about this book because it’s easy to imagine that breaking-point isn’t as far off as we’d like to think. These women may have become impulsive and reckless, but they were not entirely nonsensical. They didn’t completely lose it and maybe that’s what’s so scary. It’s not that far outside the realm of possibility to leave a husband, or sell a house, to wander around aimlessly and strike up random conversations, spend all your money, or heck, even to move in with a Panamanian teenage prostitute. Right?
—Mary
Two Serious Ladies: Jane Bowles.tIt is a great loss to literature that due to illness, both physical and psychological, that Two Serious Ladies represents the only full-length work produced by Jane Bowles. Only from this novel and a slim collection of short stories, " Everything is nice", in particular, can it be surmised what might have resulted from her long residence in Morocco and the relationships that she formed there. It can only be speculated as to what a mine and minefield such work might have been for critical theorists from a broad spectrum of disciplines.tThe characters in Two Serious Ladies inhabit a shadowy borderland between the probable and the possible... it is unlikely that an uninvited caller at an address, with only the most tenuous connection with the owner, should take up residence there the following day. Improbable but not impossible, Mrs. Bowles, in creating her strange and unnerving world never extends beyond the realms of reality. tBoth Mrs. Copperfield and Miss Goering seem to form and discontinue relationships in a decidedly arbitrary manner. They appear to be victims of hangers-on being buoyed along by the flow of the current. But careful analysis reveals that they are, in fact, making all the significant decisions. They are not unwitting passengers in the drunken boat they are at the helm.tBowles seems to create the impression that the ladies are in some way vulnerable, a sense of underlying threat pervades the text which erupts... breaks through the surface tension, in minor injuries, whether accidental or intentional. tThey don't lead normal lives but that is precisely because they are not normal. Ordinary people are burdened with the necessity of having to earn a living or are reliant on others to support them whereas the ladies are both financially independent. "After all, it's mostly my money," she (Mrs. Copperfield) said to herself. "I'm footing the bulk of the expenditure for this trip.". When Miss Goering perfunctorily decides to abandon her former home, with her erstwhile housemates still in residence. They make a request for financial assistance to find alternative accommodation. This elicits the ambivalent response... "No, no, that is not necessary. Is there anything more that is new?". Necessary? It certainly seems more necessary for the abandoned Miss Gamelon but Miss Goering has already moved off on another tangential shift and agreed to take up with a man who has mistaken her for a prostitute. He in turn discards her with as a little consideration as she herself seems to show to others.tUnfortunately, Jane Bowles has been as underrated as she has been overlooked. The world she portrays with its random connections and the changes of direction is strangely portentous of our own age where people meet total strangers on the internet and arbitrarily abandon their settled lives to pursue them. Although this strangeness should not come as too much of a surprise... originality is, by its nature, strange.
—David Corvine
"It wasn't exactly in order to have a good time that I came out. I have more or less forced myself to, simply because I despise going out in the night-time alone and prefer not to leave my own house. However, it has come to such a point that I am forcing myself to make these little excursions." – Miss GoeringTwo Serious Ladies was an absorbing literary train wreck that I just couldn't avert my eyes from! I was reminded of why I loved the documentary series Grey Gardens and The Beales of Grey Gardens. It's not like I can rightly explain why it's a huge favorite of mine, or why the two eccentric women at the center of the nonexistent plot steal my heart with each viewing. Questions that follow each viewing include: what is the definition of "normal" or of a "conventional" life? Christina Goering and Frieda Copperfield are two women desperate to live their lives devoid of fear despite their restrictive roles in society. Throughout a momentous year, Miss Goering pursues asceticism in hopes of reaching sainthood, and Mrs. Copperfield chooses to take the reigns of her life back from the hands of her overbearing husband. In the process, the women meet a slew of shady hangers-on and degenerates. Equally hilarious and grotesque, I had a wonderful time reading this little book. Bowles has a unique way of writing; what she chose to share and omit really created an element of suspense and mystery. Esthetically, I am so in love with my copy of this book, published by Ecco Books. I'm kind of a typography geek, and I loved the typeface used throughout the book. Check out the page numbers! The cover art, designed by Suet Yee Chong, is also awesome eye candy as well; it definitely reflects Bowles's avant garde style. This edition included an introduction by Claire Messud, author of The Woman Upstairs. I usually skip introductions, but in this case I found it so fascinating, and I was glad I chose to read it after I finished the book. Messud sheds light on Bowles's personal life, and her disappointment with the mixed reception of her work. Overall a great read; I'm sure I'll glean much more with further readings.
—Eve
