The L-Shaped Room | 
pickI‘ve been meaning to read this 1960 book for years as it was a favourite of my late mother. It‘s about Jane, a 27 year old woman living at home with her father, who is thrown out when she announces she is pregnant. She goes to live in a dilapidated London boarding house. The people she meets are unexpectedly supportive and that‘s great BUT my god the racism in here is So Bad. I think that Banks was emphasising ⬇️
Centique How much Jane‘s “class” of people looked down upon the people in the boarding house, but holy cow it‘s rough to read. Still a reminder of the kind of hateful speech that was widely accepted in 1960. On the other hand the maligned characters are the best and most supportive to Jane. ⬇️ 3y
Centique I think for a modern reader this reads more as an indictment of attitudes of the time than a story of Jane overcoming hardship although the friendships made are really lovely. 3y
Reggie I stacked it because you make it sound good but I don‘t think I could read it any time soon. 3y
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Centique @Reggie you‘re right I think. It‘s kind of like take a sweet story about finding friends in a rough time and then add The Most Racist Comments made by multiple characters 😳😳😳 But hey my eyes are opened a bit wider now. 3y
Centique @Reggie it would be kinda fun to buddy read it with a friend and get horrified together at the language used. 3y
CarolynM It's a long, long time since I read it, but I think I thought part of the point was the wrongness of judging social outcasts for being outcasts. 3y
Centique @CarolynM yes I think she made that point really well. Interestingly though she was interviewed decades later and said that on rereading it herself the level of racist language she‘d used shocked her. I guess she intended it to be obviously unfair at the time but it‘s worse than that. 3y
andrew61 I do like 1960's kitchen sink dramas. I have a 2nd hand copy this somewhere so may give it a go . 3y
LeahBergen I‘ve had a copy of this waiting on my shelves for years. I‘ll give it a go one of these days. 3y
Centique @andrew61 @LeahBergen I hope you both enjoy it. It certainly is a good read and has a lot to take from it. 3y
