The Good Women of Safe Harbour by Bobbi FrenchMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
As regular readers of temafrank.com know, most of the books I review are historical fiction. Bobbi French’s wonderful novel, The Good Women of Safe Harbour, straddles the line between historical and contemporary, showing us how attitudes towards young woman have changed in the past half-century.
Set in Newfoundland, Canada, the book starts with lonely 58-year-old Frances Delaney being told she has an incurable brain tumour. As the story unfolds, we discover why this reserved, bookish woman, spent her life as a housekeeper instead of the school teacher she’d always wanted to be. Edie, the teenage daughter of the power couple she cleans for, has a crisis and Frances is the one who’s there for her. In the process, Frances reviews the turning points in her own life and tries to ensure that Edie will avoid the pitfalls that trapped Frances in her youth. Grateful for the love and attention, Edie is determined to help Frances enjoy her final weeks and eagerly tries to reconnect Frances with her childhood best friend, Annie. Frances is less convinced about reconnecting with Annie, as doing so will revive long-buried trauma.
Starting with such a grave situation, one might assume that the book will be a heavy slog, yet it is anything but. There is tremendous humour and joy in the story. Frances refers to her brain tumour as “the little squid” and pictures it as a cartoon character, gleefully exploring and exploiting her brain. With nudging from Edie, she’s determined to put aside all the constraints that ruled her life and enjoy what time she has left.
As someone married to a Newfoundlander, I particularly enjoyed “hearing” the Newfoundland lilt and ways of speaking. (I read it, but if the audiobook has a Newfie narrator, I suspect it would be a joy to listen to in audiobook format). Anyone who grew up in a small town anywhere will appreciate the claustrophobia yet caring that are often the hallmarks of small town life. Most fundamentally, though, The Good Women of Safe Harbour is a book about friendship, and how friends can help us through even the most challenging of times – if only we let them.
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