Gulliver's wife by Lauren Chater
Simon and Schuster, 2020. ISBN: 9781925596380.
(Age: Senior secondary - Adult) Highly recommended. Mary Gulliver,
widow of the famous seafaring ship's surgeon, Lemuel Gulliver, has
carved an existence for herself as a midwife to women in need, her
hard earned income and frugality gradually paying off the debts left
by her careless husband. It seems that finally she might manage to
maintain her household - herself, her teenage daughter Bess, young
son Johnny, and the household help Alice, an escapee from a violent
home. It is the early 1700s London; women are completely dependent
on men to protect and provide for them. Mary has always to be
careful of her reputation, opinion could quickly turn against her,
and she could find herself spurned and despised, without anyone to
stand between her and the mob - apart perhaps from the steadfast
Richard, cousin to her husband, and probably the man she should have
married. It seems she has finally managed to work out a reasonable
existence, when what should happen but that the long lost husband,
presumed dead in a shipwreck, suddenly reappears drunken and
dishevelled, and invades their lives.
This is a novel in the style of The
other Bennett sister by Janice Hadlow, where the author
has picked out a minor character from a classic novel and reimagined
the story from their perspective. In this case, Mary Gulliver is a
minor character, barely mentioned in Swift's story of Gulliver's
travels. Chater has sought to understand what her life would
have been like, abandoned for years on end while he sailed the seas,
and then suddenly having to deal with a husband returned from the
dead, with stories of monsters, little men and tiny sheep. If
Hadlow's story of Mary Bennet highlighted the desperate need for
women to ensnare a suitable husband and provider in the 19th
century, Chater's story reveals the even worse situation in the 18th
century where women could be raped, abused, and cast out with
nowhere to go.
Centre to Chater's story is the mother-daughter relationship between
Mary and Bess. Bess cherishes her memories of her father's wondrous
stories and treasures from distant lands. She wants to live his life
of adventure and is unappreciative and alienated from her mother's
work with suffering women. Mary's desire to protect her daughter
from harsh realities means that the two have become distanced from
each other, and only with time does Bess come to understand the kind
of bravery that Mary represents.
This novel provides a unique perspective on the hidden lives of
women in literature, and in history, whilst also exploring the
mother-daughter relationship in a way that is relevant to today.
Themes: Women, Mothers and daughters, Abuse, Childbirth, Midwifery.
Helen Eddy