Book of the Week

The Go-Between by L P Hartley
Recommended by Adam Seydo

The Go-Between by L.P.Hartley is a delicate and sensitively written story about the premature revelation to an innocent child of the truths of adulthood. 

Set in a grand country manor called Brandham Hall during the turn of the 20th century, a time Hartley himself grew up in and was deeply familiar with, it is full of intricate and thought-provoking metaphors, and centres around a young boy, Leo, who becomes increasingly aware of the real world when he starts delivering letters between a young woman called Marian, who lives at Brandham Hall, and Ted the farmer.

I was provoked to get this book after reading the opening line somewhere: ‘The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.’ In many ways, this sums up the book well, for as well as being a novel about innocence, it also focuses on how people and their ideas change over time, and how actions that seemed right at the time can seem completely illogical when reflected upon. The entire novel is written from the point of view of Leo looking back many decades in the future, after finding the diary he wrote at the time, which adds another dimension to the story, and allows Hartley to go into detail and exaggerate the moments that Leo remembers most, and understate less significant details and those which Leo forgets.

Something else I gained from reading this that I didn't expect to was an insight into the life and thoughts of a schoolboy about my age in the early 1900s. This was particularly eye opening for me, as he is a character whose feelings I can relate to, though the world he lives in is so starkly different from ours, not least because of the time period, but also because of how privileged his lifestyle was while staying at Brandham Hall.

I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys reading books to gain a different viewpoint, especially on the subtleties and complexities of human relationships. While this book is not particularly action packed, it in no way ceases to be gripping. While it mostly explores a boy’s discovery of love and the adult world, he also learns more while at Brandham Hall, about the harsh nature of life itself, and there are several darker moments all, culminating in a dramatic and haunting ending.

I really cannot do this book justice in a review, for it is subtle, engaging and hugely rewarding, and a piece of literature you can only truly appreciate after reading it