Jane Harris: The Observations
Debut Novelist is One to Watch
Dec 14, 2007 Elizabeth Gregory
Book of the Month
When Waterstone’s booksellers offered The Observations as their hardback book of the month back in 2006, something very unusual took place. The large bookshops rarely take a gamble on such promotion for a debut novelist: who exactly was this unknown writer?
To be fair, Harris had already had some success with another form of writing, having written several critically acclaimed short scripts, and being nominated for a BAFTA award in both 1999 and 2000. She had also written a number of short stories, one of which included the character of a young girl who eventually developed into Bessy, the irrepressible heroine of The Observations.
Bidding War
Harris hadn’t even finished the novel before it became clear that she was onto a winner with Bessy. She had only written the first hundred pages before sparking a bidding war in the UK for the right to publish the book, eventually won by Faber & Faber.
So what exactly is so special about the book? Well firstly, it does tap in to the current interest in historical fiction, being set in Scotland in 1863. A number of authors have made the most of our fondness for a gripping story set in Victorian times, and Harris follows in such illustrious footsteps as Sarah Waters, Michael Cox and Michael Faber.
Plot and Character
Harris’ novel is not merely concerned with evoking a certain age, however, and by setting the story in rural Scotland rather than Victorian London she signals her intention to focus on character rather than a concern for historical accuracy. Bessy is quite simply a magnificent creation, a young Irish maid who finds herself in what she thinks to be a perfect position in a large country house but which turns out to be anything but. Like all the best fictional characters, Bessy is not quite what she seems, and the secrets of her past threaten to overwhelm her new life.
This plot turns out to be secondary to the novel’s main concern, which is to allow Bessy to speak in her own distinctive voice. She is by turns witty and knowing, and heart-breakingly naive, and narrates the novel in her own semi-educated fashion, such as when she pretends to be able to milk a cow:
“But could I get a drop of milk to appear? Could I flip. I sat there for what felt like an age with a bucket in one hand and a great pink tittie in the other. It wasn’t my own tittie, it was the cows and it was that full it was touching the floor.” (chapter 1, page 11)
Recommended for Everyone
Harris maintains Bessy’s idiolect admirably, and creates a character who is both convincing and memorable. The book is a fairly easy read, and should be enjoyed by just about anyone, although Bessy’s language and interest in sex are perhaps a little too ripe sometimes to suit younger readers. This is a very promising debut which suggests that this great British writer is one to watch for the future.
The Observations is published in paperback by Faber & Faber (2007), 521 pages, ISBN 978-0-571-22336-7.
Jane Harris
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