Miss Hargreaves

Synopsis: When, on the spur of a moment, Norman Huntley and his friend Henry invent an eighty-three year-old woman called Miss Hargreaves, they are inspired to post a letter to their new fictional friend. It is only meant to be a silly, harmless game - until Miss Hargreaves arrives on their doorstep, complete with her cockatoo, her harp and - last but not least - her bath. She is, to Norman's utter disbelief, exactly as he had imagined her: enchanting, eccentric and endlessly astounding. He hadn't imagined, however, how much havoc an imaginary octogenarian could wreak in his sleepy Buckinghamshire home town, Cornford. Norman has some explaining to do, but how will he begin to explain to his friends, family and girlfriend where Miss Hargreaves came from when he hasn't the faintest clue himself? Will his once-ordinary, once-peaceful life ever be the same again? And, what's more, does he want it to? Miss Hargreaves is part of The Bloomsbury Group, a new library of books from the early twentieth-century chosen by readers for readers.

Review: This is the second of the Bloomsbury Group novels that I've read, the first being 'Let's Kill Uncle', and I'm glad to say that they are continuing so far to be delightful. It's very Wodehouse in feel, Norman is at times a bit like Bertie in that he's naive and gets himself into scrapes, unfortunately for Norman he hasn't got a Jeeves to sort it all out for him, he tries to manage things for himself and thus ends up in a right old pickle.

It's a great premise, Norman and his friend Henry become bored whilst in Ireland on holiday being shown around a decrepit old church and invent a character, the elderly Miss Hargreaves. They give her characteristics and traits and even go so far as to name the book of poems she has had published. As a continuation of the joke they decide to write to her at the hotel in which they have said she is residing and invite her to stay but when Norman returns home, much to his alarm, there is a letter waiting there from her. He is inclined to think that Henry is playing a joke on him but then his father, a bookshop owner, comes home carrying a rather worn copy of her published poems. Henry is more than a little disturbed.

Miss Hargreaves has decided to take him up on his offer and comes to stay with him in his hometown. She is everything that he and Henry described and she greets him as one old friend to another. He tries to shun her and tells everyone who will listen that she's not real, she's just a figment of his and Henry's imagination but of course he only ends up looking like a madman and it's true Norman is a bit of a fantasist ... he tells us so in the prologue .. he doesn't even know if we will believe his account of things.

'We dashed into the refreshment room and hurled down double brandies. We couldn't speak. Through the window we watched, our empty glasses trembling in our hands. "Henry," I moaned, "she is exactly as I imagined." Limping slowly along the platform and chatting amiably to the porter, came - well, Miss Hargreaves. Quite obviously it couldn't be anybody else.'

This is a novel (rather like 'Let's Kill Uncle') which manages to be both comic and disturbing. Miss Hargreaves seems harmless enough but grows increasingly more sinister as the book progresses. At first she is a friend to Norman but, because of his erratic behaviour towards her, soon becomes a fearsome opponent. This 'Frankenstein's monster' suddenly finds a life force of her own ... she doesn't need her creator anymore. She has practically all of the townspeople eating out of her hand and begins to convince them that Norman is mad and needs help. Norman veers between admiration and disgust .. he's incensed at her nerve but can't help feeling a little proud.

As problems mount for him, he ponders on the thought that just as 'creative thought creates, 'destructive thought destroys' and he tries to figure out ways to get rid of her but he soon realises that, just as Henry was in at the conception of Miss Hargreaves, so it needs the both of them to un-imagine her, but can they do it?

The only thing that I found a bit tedious were the passages about the church services which did get a little bit involved at times but other than that it's a delight. It's a book to make you laugh, cry and be a little bit spooked.