Good Behaviour: A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick – Booker Prize Gems (Virago Modern Classics)

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Daddy serves as a lord of the decaying manor figure. As long as there are horses, and money to keep those up, it's all good. He'd probably be called a sexual compulsive today, but as long as Mummy doesn't have to Do It, again it's all good. The Dead nanny who hovers over the story underscores all that.

A clever, poisonous novel about largely unclever, poisonous people, a snobbish, financially distressed Anglo-Irish family. They do no work, and are contemptuous of anyone who does, horrified by the effrontery of tradespeople and staffers who expect to be paid for their services. Their home is in a state of decay and their sense of entitlement is endless. The story has been told from the point of view of Aroon, who herself is a highly unreliable narrator and quite detestable. The story starts off with the dramatic death of Aroon’s mother and the subsequent trip down the memory lane by the narrator to understand what went wrong with her family. Throughout the narration, I constantly found myself swinging between hating her and pitying her. There were several instances in the book when my heart went out to Aroon, who is perpetually hungry for food and affection, both of which she has been starved of as a kid. Unsurprisingly, all her decisions revolve around acquiring approval and affection of her kind yet womanizing father, her selfish brother and her cruel mother (One character that I disliked more than Aroon). Her constant attempts to imitate her mother’s behaviour and her deliberate failure to see or accept what was happening around her was quite frustrating. But too soon the dream falls apart. Hubert is killed in a motoring accident and Richard disappears to Kenya. The death of son and heir and the earlier tragedy when Papa lost a leg in the battle fields of World War 1 barely disrupt the routine. For this is a house where every mishap or tragedy is shaken off, never spoken of and never allowed to interrupt the gardening or hunting. “Our good behaviour went on and on. . . no one spoke of the pain.” says Aroon after Hubert’s funeral. “ We exchanged cool, warning looks – which of us could behave the best: which of us could be least embarrassing…” One of the servants, I don't believe it was the Nanny, provides Aroon with

Poor Aroon with her hot-to-trot daddy and ice queen mummy. The story begins with Rose, the family retainer, accusing Aroon of having deliberately poisoned her mother; if so, brava! She and another Anglo Lady are portrayed as almost being allergic to the locals. Mummy hides the bills in a drawer, focusing on what she might get with the money to beautify her own life instead.

Another Anglo-Irish family whose members are dedicated to mutual assured destruction, even as they slide into genteel poverty. Nobody in the St Charles household would dream of treating the dogs or horses badly; servants and local tradesmen don't fare so well. But the brunt of their vituperation is saved for one another, with each family member nursing a store of petty grievances, both real and imaginary. Our guide for this particular version of hell is the unlovely, delusional daughter of the house, Aroon. Neglected by her philandering father, despised by her icy mother, used by her charming brother, she pines for love and approval. Her transformation to bitter, vengeful, old maid is inevitable and heartbreaking to watch. Keane was part of the decaying Anglo-Irish aristocracy/middle class. She wrote until 1946 when her husband died, and didn’t start again until 1981 when this novel was published and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. I had time to consider how the punctual observance of the usual importances is the only way to behave at such times as these. And I do know how to behave –believe me, because I know. I have always known. All my life so far have done everything for the best reasons and the most unselfish motives. I have lived for the people dearest to me, and I am at a loss to know why their lives have been at times so perplexingly unhappy.” Good Behaviour takes us to familiar Molly Keane territory – among the impoverished Anglo-Irish aristocracy of the 1920’s and 30’s. However the story starts many years later – as our narrator Aroon St. Charles is making lunch for her difficult, ageing mother, watched over by their cook/housekeeper Rose – with whom Aroon does not get on well. I won’t say too much – although it is only the opening, short chapter, but it is a brilliant opening. We feel acutely the years of resentment of a disappointed life.But then, in a world where “one did not quite admit the possibility of cowardice even in young children,” sociopathic callousness is the very definition of good behavior. Throughout the book, everything from crushing debt to unrequited love to the sudden deaths of loved ones is shaken off and never spoken of again: “We had behaved beautifully. No pain lasts.” Is she really that limited in understanding that she doesn’t see her mother’s behaviour for what it is: cruelty. It’s hard not to feel sympathy for this girl whose life has been blighted and who seems not to understand how this has happened. I really wish I had written this book. It’s a tragi-comedy set in Ireland after the First World War. A real work of craftsmanship, where the heroine is also the narrator, yet has no idea what is going on. You read it with mounting horror and hilarity as you begin to grasp her delusion.” Hilary Mantel: I really wish I had written this book. It’s a tragi-comedy set in Ireland after the First World War. A real work of craftsmanship, where the heroine is also the narrator, yet has no idea what is going on. You read it with mounting horror and hilarity as you begin to grasp her delusion.