Men & Wives

At the centre of this novel stands Harriet Haslam, the epitome of the maternal power figure, whose genuine but overpowering love dominates the novel and whose self-knowledge drives her into insanity. Even after her death Harriet continues to dominate.

BRIEF PLOT SUMMARY

In 1889, the wealthy Haslam household is dominated by the formidable Lady Harriet, whose iron will and sleepless anxiety stem from her four adult children’s refusal to follow the paths she has chosen for them. Her good-natured but weak husband Sir Godfrey provides little counterweight. One morning, after yet another hectoring breakfast, eldest son Matthew (most like his mother) openly defies her, warning that her interference will leave her lonely. Harriet storms out and visits her friend and doctor Antony Dufferin, begging for “the means of escape” – i.e. suicide. He gives her a pill, telling her to summon him immediately if she changes her mind.

During a dinner party with their closest friends, who include the lawyer Dominic Spong, Harriet swallows the pill but quickly regrets it. She confesses to her youngest son Gregory; Dufferin is called and reveals the pill was only a placebo. The strain, however, triggers a genuine mental breakdown, and Harriet is sent to a sanatorium. With Harriet absent, the household breathes freely.

Sir Godfrey spends lavishly on his children - he funds Jermyn’s poetry book, buys a house for Matthew and his fiancée Camilla (Dufferin’s former lover and the parson’s ex-wife), and supports Griselda’s engagement to the weak-willed Reverend Ernest Bellamy. Young Gregory continues his questionable friendship with the older Calkin sisters. Six months later, Harriet returns, seemingly recovered. She quickly resumes her old controlling ways. Unhappy with Matthew’s choice of Camilla and Griselda’s engagement, she pressures Matthew to postpone his wedding “for her sake.”

That night, Matthew deliberately places the real lethal pill beside her usual sleeping tablet, and the next morning Harriet is found dead. Everyone assumes suicide, given her previous attempt. Matthew, in a tormented state, confesses to Camilla that he murdered his mother. Horrified, she breaks off their engagement. He then confesses to the family, but they dismiss it as delusional grief. The aftermath unravels further: Griselda, seeing Bellamy’s selfishness, ends their engagement. Gregory rejects Agatha Calkin’s attempt to replace his mother.

Camilla turns her attention to the newly widowed Sir Godfrey, but discovers Harriet’s will leaves him her fortune only if he remains unmarried, so he stays single. Months later, Matthew leaves for London to train as a physician, Jermyn takes a fellowship at Cambridge, Camilla becomes engaged to Dominic Spong - who - it transpires, is independently wealthy, Griselda is free of the parson, and Gregory pairs with young Polly Hardisty. Lady Harriet has managed to have her way with everyone’s lives, even in death.

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