7.8 /10 1 Votes
Country United Kingdom Publication date 1985 Pages 288 Originally published 1985 Preceded by The Camomile Lawn Publisher Macmillan Publishers | 3.9/5 Goodreads Language English Media type Print ISBN 0-333-39386-4 Page count 288 Genres Fiction, Novel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mary Wesley books Jumping the Queue, Not That Sort of Girl, Part of the Furniture, Second Fiddle, The Camomile Lawn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Harnessing peacocks
Harnessing Peacocks is the third novel by Mary Wesley, published in 1985 when the author was 73 years old. In 1992 it was adapted for television.
Contents
Plot summary
As a baby, Hebe lost her parents in an air crash; her grandparents have brought her up. When she, to her surprise, learns that she is pregnant, her grandparents and older siblings arrange an abortion to eliminate the social nuisance. Hebe overhears their plans and flees her grandparents' home for good.
Twelve years later Hebe is living alone in a small town in the West Country and her son, Silas, is attending a posh private school. To make a living Hebe is working as a cook for elderly ladies and supplementing the income by sleeping with their sons and sons-in-law.
In the meantime forces threaten her lucrative and well structured life. Silas's father (unknown to Hebe) is looking for her; Silas is on vacation with the sons of one of her clients; the local hatter falls in love with Hebe; Silas hates his school; one of her clients wants to marry her and begins stalking her; and Hebe's grandparents become involved in a road accident.
List of characters
TV Adaptation
Harnessing Peacocks was adapted for TV in 1992, directed by James Cellan Jones and starring Serena Scott Thomas as Hebe.
Reception
Thomas Hinde of the Sunday Telegraph described the novel as 'Delightful,intelligent entertainment'. Susan Hill of Good Housekeeping goes on to praise the authour, 'Mary Weasley goes from strenght to strenght...She has a great zest for life...The book is tremendously lively, very funny, spirited'.
Themes
One of Wesley's major fictional themes is the affirmation of illegitimacy which appear repeatedly in her works. When Hebe becomes pregnant as a teenager her family arrange for her to have an abortion. However, Hebe wants to keep her baby and to do so she must flee her grandparents´ house, and her flight marks the definitive break with her family.
The heroines in Wesley's novels always have a complicated relationship with their families. The older generation will often appear class conscious and racist. When Hebe, to her surprise, learns that she is pregnant, her grandfather's reaction is: "Who is the man?... A long-haired layabout...Probably a Communist...Must have an abortion...Might be black". Hebe's family is not concerned about her or the child she is expecting; what they are concerned about is the social embarrassment and nuisance a pregnancy will bring.