The Mistress of Nothing (Kate Pullinger)

So the reviewer in The Washington Post that complained about the fact that this book beat out Alice Munro's Too Much Happiness for the Governor General's Literary Award (a Canadian prize) wrote that this book read like a romance novel and that it was pretty much a big mistake to give it the award instead of Munro's collection of short stories.

I can say with all honesty that this makes me think that this person has never read a romance novel. So there! Romance novels have a formula, and this book does not follow it at all. At. All.

Of course, most of these awards go to books that are depressing. Most great works of literature are depressing. I enjoy books with tragic stories, as anyone can tell from checking out this blog. This book was just as depressing as Munro's. Does that mean it was better written? No. I can say Munro's work stories definitely had much more complicated plots. I don't think that means that The Mistress of Nothing isn't a good book.

Anyway, I don't presume to know what the judges at these competitions think. Though I love to read, I can't say that I enjoy high literature. So if you decide to check out those books, you can decide for yourself who should have won that prize.

In my opinion, Pullinger delivered a well written and well researched book. She wrote the story from the point of view of Sally Naldrett, Lady Lucie Duff Gordon's maid. Lady Duff Gordon suffered from tuberculosis and the doctors told her she needed a drier climate, so she moved to Egypt. Sally went with her. In Luxor, Sally falls in love with their Egyptian guide, Omar. They have an affair that has tragic consequences--more for Sally than for Omar.

I hadn't heard of Lady Duff Gordon before. She published a book of her letters from her time in Egypt and had gained some fame as a literary translator. Apparently, many that knew her loved her. Sally did, too. Unfortunately, in this story, she comes across as a heinous bitch. Not all the time, mind you, but she treats Sally horribly once she finds out about the affair. In a way, she personifies someone that I've come to dislike intensely: a person of privileged that has the ability to show kindness as long as it's towards someone that doesn't affect them directly.

Pullinger kept the story moving pretty well, and Sally makes a good narrator. Maybe it would have been a more exciting story if she had chosen to tell it from Lady Duff Gordon's point of view, but it's great to get the story from a perspective that most tend to ignore.

If this review seems a bit tepid, it's because my reaction to the book was tepid. To put it simple: it was alright.

Next up: When Tito Loved Clara, by Jon Michaud.