"M. J. Farrell's houses are never safe places, never sanctuaries," writes Polly Devlin in her thoughtful introduction to this seriously strange little novel, the story of an unhappy American lesbian who escapes the clutches of her domineering girlfriend and finds happiness in the arms of a good Anglo-Irish man. Devoted Ladies is a relatively early novel in Molly Keane's, aka M.J. Farrell's, oeuvre; perhaps she had not yet learned to soften the edges of her remorselessly sardonic observation of character, perhaps her own attitude to these particular characters was ambiguous - "I suppose I was rather curious and shocked by coming upon all that", Devlin quotes her as saying of lesbianism - in any case, the end result, though as stylish a satire as you would expect from this writer, is spiky enough to cut your fingers on.
Arminta Wallace
