Hetty Dorval by Ethel Wilson
Blurb
This first novel, written in 1947 by one of Canada’s most distinguished novelists, is a quiet, subtle, morally complex book about a young girl’s growth from innocence to maturity. Hetty Dorval seems to have behaved unconventionally, indeed immorally (‘a very ugly story has followed her from Shanghai to Vancouver’). But is Frankie’s adult perception of Hetty to be preferred to that of her childish innocence when she first met her?
Review
For such a short book there was a lot of detail packed into this book and I am not talking about the characters. This is Wilson’s first novella and for me you can see this in the characters but not in the setting.
Although the book is named Hetty Dorval the main character is Frankie Burnaby who we first meet as a twelve year old girl living in the village Lytton in Canada. The book is told from Frankie’s point of view and we get a blend of her childhood perceptions and her adult thoughts. However, instead of Frankie telling us her life history we actually get only her encounters with Hetty.
Hetty is a complex character who has led a far from blameless life and is very selfish. However, when Frankie meets Hetty as a child she sees only a wonderful woman who enchants her but as she gets older her perceptions of Hetty change and we see this change happening through the book.
This book is definitely a coming of age story but for me the biggest star is the descriptions. The descriptions of where Frankie lives in Lytton and her weekly ride from her lodging to her parents’ farm at the weekend is picturesque and the detail is amazing. You can imagine you are on that ride with Frankie. In fact the descriptions all the way through this book are amazing and make the book a joy to read. For me the characters were a bit thin and lacked substance and I really didn’t like Hetty but the scenery saved this book for me and so I give it 3 out of 5 Dragons.
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About the author
Ethel Davis Wilson was a Canadian writer of short stories and novels.
Born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, she moved to England in 1890 following the death of her mother. In 1898, after the death of her father, she was taken to live with her maternal grandmother in Vancouver, British Columbia. She received her teacher’s certificate in 1907, and for thirteen years taught in Vancouver elementary schools.
In 1921 she married Wallace Wilson, President of the Canadian Medical Association and professor of medical ethics at the University of British Columbia.
Wilson is well known as one of the first Canadian writers to truly capture the beauty of British Colombia. She wrote often of places in BC that were important to her and was able to detail the ruggedness and magic of the landscape.
The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, British Columbia’s top fiction award, was created in 1985, commemorating Wilson’s achievements.
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