Janet McNeill (1907–1994)

When Laura’s older sister Mildred dies after a lengthy illness, she takes quiet pride in the minister identifying Laura as “the sister who with exemplary devotion did not spare herself in the long months of nursing.” Laura stands to inherit the family estate, but having put her life on hold for so long, she can barely come to terms with the possibilities now available to her. Laura’s younger brother George, long ostracized from the family, returns to make amends but does he have other motives? You can bet he does.

As Laura looks back on her life it becomes clear she was ruled first by a stern father and then by an equally tyrannical sister. Suppressed memories and family lies have taken a significant toll. Laura’s journey from awareness to action is slow, but satisfying.… (meer)

I loved this quiet novel about a middle-aged woman who finds her life suddenly changed when her invalid sister dies. Laura has been caring for Mildred for 6 years and has led a completely sheltered and isolated existence, completely controlled by the domineering Mildred. When Mildred dies, Laura inherits their large home and estate and her life begins to have motion. A long lost brother returns, bringing up memories of a friend of his who she loved in her youth and bringing to light a family secret that could change how Laura has viewed her whole adult life. Laura will have to decide for herself how she wants her life to look from here on out.

This is a simple novel with a simple plot that gives plenty of room for a deeply drawn character and situation. It's one of my favorite kinds of novel and reminded me of Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner, and Penelope Fitzgerald. I'll be on the lookout for more books by [[Janet McNeill]] who doesn't seem to have much currently in print in the U.S.… (meer)

Janet McNeill lived most of her adult life in Northern Ireland and was a prolific writer of plays and children's books as well as 10 adult novels and a number of volumes of short stories. She wasn't on my radar until I came across an article called ' Ten great Northern Irish novels you may have missed.

Compared on the jacket to Barbara Pym, Anita Brookner and Elizabeth Taylor, the writing in this novel certainly reminded me of Barbara Pym's writing, particularly in terms of characterisation. I've not got to Taylor yet, but McNeill's writing quality is absolutely on a level with Pym's and Brookner's, and it's a shame that she's never received the same level of recognition (Virago, Persephone - sort it out).

The Maiden Dinosaur centres around the main character Sarah, a fifty-something year old spinster teacher and minor poet who shares her former family home (now divided into 4 apartments) with two of her childhood friends and the daughter and son-in-law of another friend. The plain, sensible, clever one, with no family of her own Sarah is the no-nonsense linchpin both they and their wider friendship group turn to as conveniences them, whilst Sarah has quietly devoted herself for over 40 years to Helen within the group, whose personal tragedies and vanities demand much of Sarah's willing attention.

As the shifting sands of life bring inevitable significant events within the lives of the group of friends, the novel explores themes of loss and new beginnings in a middle-age context over one summer in Belfast.

McNeill's writing in this novel doesn't evoke a sense of place in terms of Northern Ireland itself, but in a way I quite liked that and enjoyed the absence of the usual local colloquialisms. Belfast Zoo (or Bellevue Zoo as it used to be known) is mentioned quite often, as the novel is set in North Belfast where the zoo still to this day sits looking down over the city just below Cave Hill. There was a charming children's film called Zoo made in 2017 which is filmed at Belfast Zoo. It's based on the true story of a woman in a terraced back-street in Belfast who hid an elephant from the zoo in her tiny back yard to stop it being euthanised when the Belfast Blitz began (somehow that story could only be true from Northern Ireland).

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will definitely be looking out for other titles by McNeill which are still in print.

This type of novel won't appeal to everyone, but if you're a lover of Pym or Brookner I would recommend it (I believe it's titled The Belfast Friends in the US).

4.5 stars - A wonderful depiction of the claustrophobia that life as a middle-aged woman can become.… (meer)

Opening in a well-to-do household in N Ireland, at the funeral of older sister Mildred, the story follows her weakened younger sister (and carer) Laura. Long used to living nervously under Mildred's criticism and demands, she now finds herself wealthy and independent...but still tremulous and quashed by thoughts of the deceased...and, falling prey to three new faces: officious do-gooder, Miss Parks, hoping to take up residence here; scapegrace brother George, unwelcome while Mildred lived; and the widowed family solicitor.
In flashbacks, the author takes us back to Laura's brief spell at art college...and the outcome.....And leaves the reader with the awareness that the oppressive control of her father, then her sister, and the "watching" house she inhabits, mean she will never break away from their influence...… (meer)