Overview
In 1920, Agnes La Grange leaves a poor life in England for Durban, South Africa, to make her future. In the house of the Jewish family where she first works as a maid, the wife is dying--which doesn't keep the husband from sneaking to Agnes's room to make love while watching in a mirror he's given her. His unrestrained passion for her (old and a head shorter he may be) leads her to say, "I have never felt so strongly the power of being alive." And that's in truth the only power Agnes ever wants or values. During her pregnancy, the "old Jew," as she calls him bluntly but without judgment, puts her up in the Railway Hotel--an establishment of which, after the birth of her daughter Leah, she becomes owner and new proprietress by finessing the old man into putting up the money. From then on, Agnes is on her way. "The newspaperman" will be a weak and soon-divorced husband, followed by such lovers as Agnes finds attractive--"the banker," "the hunter," and "the trader." Agnes doesn't even read the papers, but her beauty, life, and business sense draw others to her, seeing her through the Depression and WWII as she's cheated but recovers, buys more property, sees Leah become a famous singer--although not before Leah does just what Agnes did in seducing a husband (readers will find out whose), leaving Agnes a gorgeous child to raise as a second daughter. Forget improprieties: As Agnes says, "this wasn't a story . . . this was a life."Editorials
Brooke Allen
Like so many of the best booksThe Mirror makes us laugh while packingfinallya punch in which life's sadness prevails over its consolatory moments of humor. —The New York Times Book ReviewBoston Globe
Compelling . . . in every wayLynn Freed has created an object of desire.Publishers Weekly -
The talented Freed (The Bungalow) delivers a tour de force in this diary of an ambitious, headstrong, sexually independent lower-class Englishwoman who comes to Durban in 1920 to serve as a housekeeper for a Jewish family. Agnes La Grange, the name she takes for herself, is smart, ruthless and confident that her beauty ensures her a triumphant "future" she can't fully define. Watching her reflection in a mirror as her elderly employer makes love to her, she feels strong and empowered. Pregnancy is no deterrent to pragmatic Agnes, as she uses her body to acquirein addition to her illegitimate daughterthe means to buy the Railway Hotel; a husband; another, more elegant hotel; several lovers; a divorce; and an education in refinement. None of these acquisitions, however, satisfies her craving for the kind of freedom a woman of her time could gain only through the sacrifice of conventional values. Through the vicissitudes of her life she remains self-centered, restless and obsessed with remaining unfettered, repeatedly spurning opportunities for security and love. Captious and stubborn, she is unable to demonstrate maternal love until her daughter is discovered by her father's family and moves in with them. Agnes, her heart touched at last, is paid back in kind by her now hard-hearted girl. Freed dares to make her heroine a modern-day Becky Sharp who reflects with stinging candor on the men who sexually excite her and those she finds distasteful. Agnes is also outspoken about society's hypocrisy in granting respect to men who have power and money but not morals. She mellows with age, wisdom and the acknowledgement of fate, however, as she ironically sees her granddaughter achieve the future she meant for herself. Though Freed takes risks by not sugarcoating her bold heroine's behavior, she succeeds in establishing a credible personality. Sepia photos grant an authentic period feel to the book, which is handsomely formatted to resemble a journal. (Sept.)Library Journal
Young British migr Agnes La Grange (she made up her last name) flees an unpromising past for an uncertain future as a South African housekeeper in the early part of this century, with nothing but her youth, good looks, and a good deal of moxie to recommend her. Bewitched by her image in the full-length mirror of her third-floor bedroom, Agnes allows her much older Jewish employer, whose wife is dying several floors below, to enjoy the view as well. After the birth of the resulting child and a hefty cash settlement from the father, Agnes sets herself up in a hotel/boarding school and spins out the story of her life in a disarmingly frank account of her successes and failures, adventures, and numerous amours. She begrudgingly raises daughter Allegra (Leah), whose musical talent brings her back to her birth father's family, and she keeps looking for the ideal man. Sultry and forthright, Agnes is a vivid character, and her story should appeal to fans of literary fiction.Ann H. Fisher, Radford P.L., Va.The Boston Globe
Compelling . . . in every way, Lynn Freed has created an object of desire.Brooke Allen
Like so many of the best books, The Mirror makes us laugh while packing, finally, a punch in which life's sadness prevails over its consolatory moments of humor. -- The New York Times Book ReviewKirkus Reviews
Freed's third (Home Ground, 1986; The Bungalow, 1993) is a poetically robust tale of natural nobility—as a woman determines for herself what love and propriety are.In 1920, Agnes La Grange leaves a poor life in England for Durban, South Africa, to make her future. In the house of the Jewish family where she first works as maid, the wife is dying—which doesn't keep the husband from sneaking to Agnes's room to make love while watching in a mirror he's given her. His unrestrained passion for her (old and a head shorter may he be) leads her to say, "I have never felt so strongly the power of being alive." And that's in truth the only power Agnes ever wants or values. During her pregnancy, the "old Jew," as she calls him bluntly but without judgment, puts her up in the Railway Hotel—an establishment of which, after the birth of her daughter Leah, she becomes owner and new proprietress by finessing the old man into putting up the money. From then on, Agnes is on her way. "The newspaperman" will be a weak and soon-divorced husband, followed by such lovers as Agnes finds attractive—"the banker," "the hunter," and "the trader." Agnes doesn't read even the papers, but her beauty, life, and business sense draw others to her, seeing her through the Depression and WW II as she's cheated but recovers, buys more property, sees Leah become a famous singer—although not before Leah does just what Agnes did in seducing a husband (readers will find out whose), leaving Agnes a gorgeous child to raise as a second daughter. Forget improprieties: As Agnes says, "this wasn't a story . . . this was life."
Candor, passion, and love of life put Agnes on a par with the Wife of Bath, while Freed adds the treats of succulent place and period flavor, even 20 black-and-white photographs of the very places where Agnes walked, slept, loved, and lived. A pleasure.