Lolly Willowes was
the first-ever selection of the Book of the Month Club, and it's not
hard to imagine members of that mainstream club being bewildered by it. The novel starts out
conventionally enough, but by the ending, Laura Willowes thinks herself
a witch and has made a pact with the devil.
Yet no demonic deeds happen, nor does gentle Laura (Lolly to her
family) turn into an evil being. Witchcraft can be taken as metaphor,
Laura's best hope for asserting her independence. The devil obliges her
desire to be left alone.
Laura's is a conventional, controlling family in early-20th-century
England that can't fathom a single woman on her own. Laura drifts
through 20 years in the home of her brother and sister-in-law
before realizing she has to escape. "Great Mop," where she
chooses to live, happens to be a village inhabited by witches.
As the story becomes stranger, Laura becomes more substantial. At the
beginning she appears to be a passive creature with no purpose other
than to be what her relatives want from her. But by the end she is
giving long declarations about the oppression of women.
Lolly Willowes
is quite a subversive book about self-definition. Independent single
woman are not unusual in the Western world anymore, but Lolly Willowes
still has a relevant message for everyone about resisting the pressure
to be what others want and finding and being content with one's true
self.
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