J. D. Beresford (1873–1947)

Published in 1913, [b:Goslings|16129239|Goslings|J.D. Beresford|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1372173363s/16129239.jpg|21954179] explores what happens when an extraordinary plague that kills mostly men wipes out the population of England. The novel follows a few 'typical' characters from before the plague strikes, through the initial days, and on until a year after. It's clear from the tone of the long descriptive passages, that the author, [a:J.D. Beresford|1440741|J.D. Beresford|https://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-e89fc14c32a41c0eb4298dfafe929b65.png], is of the opinion that mankind is a blight on the earth, an alien presence that this plague is curing.

Set in England, the story generally follows the Gosling family, along with a man named Thrale, who had boarded with them in the past. The Goslings are the sort of striving middle class family that worries about what the neighbors think, but has little view of the world outside the narrow confines of their tidy town house in a pleasant suburb.

I found the most enjoyable part of the book began in the second half, after the Gosling women are forced to leave London, late comers to the great emigration of starving female citizens. The two young Gosling daughters suddenly develop real characters as they escape the confines of their house on Wisteria Lane. This long journey, described in exquisite geographic detail, eventually takes them to one of the rural areas just outside London. There, they find a strong community of organised woman, and their old boarder Thrale, immune to the plague.

The book, although it explores the ideas of ideal female society, is still bound by conventions of the period in which it is written. Men are desired because they can run machinery, kill animals, and perform deeds of bravery that women wouldn't contemplate. But the women of the Marlow community shed their vanity and petty facades, expanding to become pragmatic, cohesive survivors.

The final third of the novel leaves behind the Gosling girls, who have completed their growth and found their potential at Marlow. Instead, we follow Thrale, who has his own growth from a prude into a man who can love freely.

The novel ends with hope, as Thrale envisions the new world he will create, without the old habits of the previous age. Here is the authors Utopian vision, a world built on communities of hard working women and men working with nature.

Overall, the way the novel was written made it less enjoyable to follow than a more conventional plot driven plague story. The moral lectures and strong opinions of the author seeped out in most of the scenes, and although I enjoyed the characters, often I was left wanting more exploration of the outcomes,and instead, received half a story before the focus of the author shifted.… (más)

Wow! how come this novel: aka. World of Women is not better known. Published in 1913 it slots neatly into the history of Science fiction writing; a dystopia that heralds a possible Utopia, an almost all female society, treated with some degree of sympathy by a male author, (which was probably the first in the genre.), exceptionally well written in a style similar to H G Wells, but avoiding the preaching and the bombast, and a story that reaches a satisfying conclusion.

The novel opens with a view of the Gosling household in the contemporary England (London) of 1913. George Gosling is a respectable family man, who has worked hard to earn his respectability; a man of position now as head of the counting house in a reputable firm with aspirations of venturing into local politics. He is married with two daughters and runs the household in a way that best serves his purpose. Although Beresford says that if you observed George Gosling in the street you would notice that he took a strange and unaccountable interest in the feet and ankles of young women, but his thoughts never translated into actions and he was like a quarter of a million respectable men living comfortably in London’s suburbs. A travelling man (Thrale) revisits the Gosling household where he had been a tenant some years ago with stories of a strange plague that was killing people in the far east. The plague becomes a news item but is dismissed as irrelevant by Britain whose government believe that it could never happen here. This first section of the book is a good view of a society at ease with itself. The two daughters spend their energies in getting more allowance money out of their father to go shopping and the author indulges in a rant against the fashion industry, which reflects badly on the frivolous nature of the Gosling females. Beresford’s depiction of contemporary society, politics and culture is one where there is a distinct feeling that it has reached a peak and that something will happen to cause a downturn, that something is not a world war but a plague. Britain remains complacent even when the first cases in Berlin are reported, the people believe that it won’t be allowed to cross the channel. Thrale tries hard to shake the government into action by writing articles in the newspapers but political events always take precedence. First cases are reported in Scotland and when the plague hits, it is devastating, killing off the vast majority of the male population within 24 hours of infection.

The Goslings having had the inside track through their friend Thrale develop a siege mentality and after acquiring a huge stock of canned food barricade themselves inside the house. A power struggle between George and his women which George wins in the short term but soon leads to him looking elsewhere, (he is one of the very few men who is immune to the plague) and soon as he realises this he is off looking for those well shaped ankles. When food stocks get low the Gosling women leave their house to find an almost deserted London. Blanche the eldest daughter soon takes command and after initial excursions she becomes convinced that they need to get into the countryside to search for food. Almost all the survivors are women and they have already made the trek to the countryside and so following in the footsteps of the wave of refugees is a hard journey for the three women. They manage to keep themselves alive and find a community of women in Marlow a small town 40 miles from London. Here they are able to find work and also discover Mr Thrale another male survivor who is helping the community with his technical and engineering skills. The surviving communities all face the immediate problem of feeding themselves, the destruction of pre plague civilisation has been complete. The community of Marlow does survive and eventually Mr Thrale and his female companion feel strong enough to seek out other survivors……………….

The books finest moments are the descriptions of a devastated London and the Gosling women’s journey through a collapsed city in an attempt to find redemption of a sort in the countryside. Beresford writes well on the issues that survivors of a dystopia would face and he has plenty of thoughts on how people would react and what type of communities might emerge. It should be born in mind that in 1913 there were few women involved in Engineering and technical work and so the loss of the male population would quickly lead to a complete breakdown of the infrastructure. The fact that the women would eventually turn things around and even thrive leads Beresford to say at the end of the novel that Equality (between the sexes) is a beautiful word and presents a wonderful opportunity to future generations.

As in much science fiction the story and the ideas behind it lead to little time for serious character development, but Beresford does far better than most and in Jasper Thrale, Blanche Gosling and then Eileen the leader of the Marlow community he creates characters who add more than just moving the story along. A very enjoyable read that serves as both a snapshot of London just before the war and a new kind of dystopia and so 4 stars.… (más)

I initially picked up this book because I'd seen it mentioned as an aside in a couple of threads here on LT. I hesitated to review it because it's difficult to do so without discussing things that are better discovered in the reading of it.

It was recommended as an early work that would qualify as science fiction (it was published first in 1911), and if the umbrella's stretched far enough, then I suppose it would be considered so. After all, Asimov's "psychohistory" falls in the field, and there's about the same theoretical basis for either. It's safe to actually skim over the bits on Cricket (I loathe sports, and discussion of them), although at least a cursory reading helps with the later events.

One of the best things about this slim book for me was the use of language. It was pleasant to encounter a rich vocabulary, something that seems lost in our modern times. The only other non-technical book I've read in the last decade that used language to its fullest extent was The Elegance of the Hedgehog. It may be that the richness of language puts some off, but it added a great deal for me.

There are strong philosophical points being made in this book, having little to do with the curiosity of an advanced intellect, and the interactions with others. The "Wonder" is used as much as a vehicle to convey the author's theories, and (deliberately) is the least developed character in this tale.

I recommend it, with reservations. It's as much an interesting pastiche of the understanding of intellect and genetics of that day as it is a discussion of the philosophy of the author.… (más)