Midwinter Break by Bernard MacLaverty
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

All Women Marry Beneath Themselves

Like the Shakers, the Beguine movement was an attempt to provide some institutional respite for women in a world dominated by men, their narcissistic violence, and chronically inadequate women’s toilet facilities. The Begijnhof in Amsterdam is a vestige of this movement, which is probably no less necessary today than it was in medieval society.

Gerry is a boor and a functional alcoholic. Stella is spiritually-minded and feels dis-valued. They have reached that stage in their marriage in which a gentle sniping and comforting ritual is as intimate as it gets. Both self-medicate to relieve disappointment with their lives: he with booze; she with an idea of escape into a refuge like the Beguines. Both want a different life. She is obviously the more competent at living.

As an intact antique city, Amsterdam evokes not just the past but specific memories for Gerry and Stella. “There was a time when Stella and he were congruent,” muses Gerry. Especially when they shared a trauma to which they both had to adapt. Is there anything more than that stale shared past to keep them together?

On the other hand, “What was love but a lifetime of conversations. And silences. Knowing when to be silent. Above all, knowing when to laugh.” Could there actually be more to look forward to in old age than this? Perhaps this is the implication of MacLaverty’s references to Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying - it’s all more than a little neurotic but somehow it works.

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