"Last Curtsey" by Fiona MacCarthy

I've always been really interested in the history of women, I love reading about influential women in history and about those points in history when the fates and fortunes of women changed. "Last Curtsey" by Fiona MacCarthy is about a very British rite of passage that a select number of privileged young women had to go through (some more willingly than others) in order to be introduced into polite society. These young women were called debutantes and they came from the most privileged, the wealthiest, titled families and the rite of passage that they went through was called the season, the highpoint of which was the curtsy to the Queen, the presentation at court.  

Fiona MacCarthy was one of these debutantes, actually she was in the last batch of debutantes ever to be presented at court and in "Last Curtsey" she shares the story of the debutantes and their lives during the season. 

It is a fascinating read with host of interesting characters : the debs delights, young men escorting the debutantes to parties, some of whom were branded by the debs' mothers with the "can't be trusted in cabs"; the golden debs who had their pictures featured in magazines, walked in Cardin fashion shows or went on to marry rich and influential men; the independent debs who soon gave up the dresses and dances to pursue careers. And then there are the quaint details and historic notes such as accounts showing the expenses that a budget or a full-scale season would have cost or the musings on the traditional menu at the pre-ball dinners. 

"Last Curtsey" is the story of United Kingdom that is no more and it also hints at why because it is obvious that although the dresses, the balls and the dancing is fascinating at first, it demands nothing more of the girls than that they be pretty and sociable and there are no expectations of careers or achievements beyond marriage and kids. MacCarthy writes sensitively, hiding no flaws but condemning no one for their choices and brings to life a long-gone era in an engaging, interesting and thoughtful manner. 

Review: "Past Imperfect" - Reliving the past

Julian Fellowes, the author of "Past Imperfect", first came to my attention years ago when I spotted his book "Snobs" at the library. A cool title - and fitting - and really cool cover as well meant that I had to read it. Now I own not only a copy of "Snobs" but also of Fellowes' second novel "Past Imperfect".

"Past Imperfect" is all about the imperfect past and about how one person's memories of what happened is not necessarily the same memory that his close friends had. What you experienced is not what people around you experienced. Thought-provoking and interesting. The narrator is a moderately succesful author who has never found love but has carved out a good life. His present is very much influenced by his past, especially about what happened in his late teenage years and early twenties. In the sixties he was part of a set of aristocrats and high-profile teenagers where the girls were debutantes and the boys provided good, appropriate dancing partners and possibles future spouses. He was on the outskirts of the inner circle and by chance he introduced his Cambridge friend Damian Baxter to this circle by the start of the season and suddenly Damian is everywhere. Damian ends up being a shaping force and they fall out, something big happens, something dramatic.
Many years later, Damian calls the narrator to his deathbed asking him to revisit the past. Damian maybe has a son or daughter, an heir to his vast empire and he wants the narrator to go back to the women that Damian had affairs with an investigate. Immerse himself into the past and see if he can find out if Damian has fathered a child. One of the women the narrator has to face is Serena, the love of his life, the girl for whom he would die and who never returned his feelings. The journey is a long one and a painful one for the narrator but for the reader it is a journey through time.

Going back to the sixties, flown there by the words of Fellowes, was a great experience. I imagined it better than ever before and his characters are full and come to life. Dagmar, the meek princess. Serena, the goddess. Damian, the interloper. They seem to real and the narrator - though flawed and full of pride - is lovable none the less. And that is one of the reasons why I can read this book over and over again. It is a great escape into another time and it is entertaining and well-written. A pretty perfect piece of fiction about a reality that once was.