FICTION: EMILY FIRETOGreviews My Former Heartby Cressida Connolly Fourth Estate, 233pp. £14.99
IN THIS DEBUT NOVEL by Cressida Connolly, three generations of women find, and then lose, love. And though they travel to Cairo, go to college, become music teachers or veterinarian’s assistants, or work in art galleries, most of their emotional energy is focused on finding people to love them.
My Former Heartappears full of inconsequential moments; each character exists without affecting the others, their lives separate and distinct. So it is a story that rarely rises above the individual. There is no plot except the progression of time, though the novel's 60-year span passes at a clip. The novel could, perhaps, at a stretch be said to pose the question of whether we read fiction to discover truths about the human condition or read it as voyeurs, seeking the minutiae of the day-to-day existence of others.
It seems Connolly makes an argument for the latter, summed up when Ruth says to one of her daughters, after the reading of her mother’s will: “I dare say she didn’t see her life as completely uneventful. Something happens to everyone.”
My Former Heartis not a particularly compelling novel from the point of view of plot, and, without grandiose moments of illumination or insight into the human condition, the matters of the heart that consume these women seem small. But, in this muted way, Connolly attempts to delve deep into the emotional complexities of a family destined to fail at loving relationships – at least on the first round.
The story begins with Iris, who flees wartime London for Cairo, sending her daughter Ruth to live with her in-laws up north. In Cairo, she begins a relationship with a man, and eventually leaves her war-hero husband.
Years later, Ruth is abandoned by her husband after having an abortion against his wishes, and is likewise shunned by his religious family. She returns to her grandparents’ house to live with her uncle, and eventually falls in love with a German woman, Ilse.
Ruth’s children, Isobel and Emily, have their own troubles with men: Isobel’s husband is unfaithful after only a few weeks of marriage, and when Emily’s lover turns out to be married, she must raise their child on her own.
Connolly successfully creates three-dimensional women and details how they move through life. But by focusing practically every scene on the female characters’ interactions with the men (and for Ruth, eventually, the woman) they sleep with, are seduced by, go on dates with, and marry, Connolly limits the achievement and emotional versatility of all her characters.
When Isobel begins her career in the gallery, there are wonderful descriptions of her negotiating this new world – learning the language of art and dealing with the egos of the gallery’s artists. But as soon as Jacob walks into the gallery it’s clear that the rest of Isobel’s narrative will focus on her relationship with him.
Connolly has a clear voice and an eye for details. There is a lovely description of a young, soon-to-be-wed Ruth practising putting in and taking out her diaphragm, laughing as it flies across the room. And though there aren’t as many descriptions of sex as a novel so obsessed with intimacy might have, each of the times lovers are embraced, kissed, stroked and smelled is intimate and completely unsentimental.
My Former Heartis a small-scope novel. Though it encompasses decades and a host of characters, including husbands, second wives, lovers and three generations of women, it creates a world of individual victories and defeats. By focusing only at the moments when Iris, Ruth, Isobel and Emily find love, Connolly limits the potential of the otherwise interesting, strong, complex women she has created.
Emily Firetog is a contributing editor at the Stinging Flymagazine
