An Experiment in Love

Finished another RA Favorite book, An Experiment in Love by Hilary Mantel.  The story provides a glimpse into the life of Carmel McBain, a young English woman who enters a prestigious London University living in a residence hall with other classmates during the late 1960s, the age of the rise of feminism. The author uses the method of weaving the main character’s current life and many of the pieces that led to her coming to the college, from elementary school through high school both within the Catholic education system, which was quite conservative and leads to her current reaction to a new found freedom, sex and rebuffing family wishes.  The other members of the friend group (Karina, Julieanne, Susan, and Lynette) grapple with their own coming of age during the era of “free love” each seemingly finding a beau and deciding whether to get on the pill, joining a community group fighting an issue, or determining their own place in this “man’s world” of their time.  Struggles with money haunt Carmel, as does self-image issues, leading to a battle with anorexia after her boyfriend of two years dumps her.  The reader enters Carmel’s friend difficulties and how hard it is in the time to create your own path.  The story ends with a strange twist and for me, doesn’t really come to any closure.  Maybe that was the point to enter the lives of a group of people and then step out of it?  It took me a while, but I really started wanting to know more about the relationships and how each was affected by the behaviors of the other characters.  The strengths of the book was clearly the character development and the psychological changes as the years progressed.  The characters are real and do represent what was happening for young women, at least from my own insight to my sisters growing up at the same time, making me even more intrigued.  Still not happy with the fire at the end, ok I won’t give away that one of the characters dies…