Fiction, Fiction Subjects

She May Not Leave

Name: She May Not Leave
Author: Fay Weldon
ISBN: 9780871139429

by Fay Weldon

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Overview

"Fay Weldon offers an amusing send-up of modern relationships and child-rearing practices in this caustic novel about a middle-class London couple." Hattie, a literary agent, and lefty journalist Martyn have elected to partner rather than submit to official wedlock and become husband and wife. For their infant, Kitty, they hire a young, beautiful Polish au pair with a college degree in early childhood education. She brings a glorious, unprecedented order to their household and charms them with belly dancing and gourmet meals, allowing Hattie to return to work and the pair to enjoy real food and sex once in a while. It's Hattie's grandmother, Frances, however, who narrates, and she suspects that Agnieszka Wyszynska isn't quite what she seems. But Hattie and Martyn, weakened by their plum setup, will do anything to keep their live-in nanny, including pushing their relationship to the brink - and perhaps beyond.

Synopsis

Publishers Weekly

Wary '80s feminism observer Weldon (The Fat Woman's Joke) turns her sharp eye to the desperate neediness of two-career London parents seeking child care. Early 30-ish Hattie, a literary-rights agent, and lefty journalist Martyn are partners, rather than husband and wife. For their infant, Kitty, they procure competent young Pole Agnieszka Wyszynska who effects a glorious, unprecedented order in their household, thus allowing Hattie to return to work and the couple to enjoy real food and sex once in a while. It's Hattie's grandmother, Frances, however, who narrates, and Frances suspects Agnieszka isn't quite what she seems. If the au pair really is Ukrainian rather than Polish, she's not an EU cardholder and thus not legal to work. The solution of having Martyn marry Agnieszka makes Frances, who has emerged from the swinging '60s bearing her share of battle scars, raise her eyebrows. Weldon also adds great aunt Serena, a successful novelist, to the chorus; she has her own child-rearing, marriage and career stories. The results hit very close to the working literary family's bone. (June) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

Beware the au pair! Martyn and Hattie, staunchly unmarried new parents of Kitty, overcome their liberal political principles by hiring a young Polish woman as a live-in nanny, to their eventual ruin. Hattie, thrilled to return to work at a London publishing house, is grateful for Agnieszka's confident way with babies and her organic carrot pastries. Martyn, an editor for a social and political monthly, envisions a career in politics while eyeing his belly-dancing new flatmate. Of course, not all is as it seems, and Weldon throws in several last-minute twists that, though not quite bunny-in-the-pot scary, still manage to surprise. Imagine a less-zany I Don't Know How She Does It crossed with The Nanny Diaries, told with Weldon's wry humor and feminist perspective. Then add running commentary from Frances, Hattie's 72-year-old grandmother, who ruminates over the various women, children, au pairs, and lost loves in her life. It's like listening to a much-loved doddering aunt-there's wisdom there, but you have to suffer through meandering reminiscences for the occasional bon mot. Buy where Weldon's other titles (like Mantrapped) are popular.-Christine Perkins, Burlington P.L., WA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

A British doyenne of elegantly savage modern comedies of manners returns to form with a cautionary tale of childcare. Weldon (Mantrapped, 2004, etc.), with some 24 novels and numerous nonfiction works and short-story collections to her name, has a justified reputation as one of the most acerbic judges of human and gender frailty. In this latest mixture of family saga and morality fable, Hattie and Martyn, a couple of 30-something unmarried London yuppies, bear the brunt of her scrutiny, representatives of the comfy, left-leaning middle classes who claim to live by their principles but only, it turns out, when it suits their needs. After the birth of their first child puts financial pressure on the household, they decide to employ a married, Polish au pair, Agnieszka, whose arrival restores marvelous order to the domestic chaos: Hattie can go back to work; the couple's sex life can resume; and all manner of other compensations follow, which help the pair swallow their repugnance at employing what is in effect a servant. But Agnieszka is not quite what she seems-neither Polish, nor married. The story is narrated by Hattie's grandmother, Frances, who interleaves the Agnieszka episodes with anecdotes from the larger family. References to the mitochondrial line recur, as Weldon, taking the long view, expands her theme of genealogical descent via the female side. Too many characters are invoked here, but Weldon's domestic observations and aphorisms are nevertheless to be relished, as is the surprising conclusion. Sly, salty, savvy.