As for Me and My House
Encyclopedia
As For Me and My House (1941), by Canadian author Sinclair Ross
, was first published by the American company Reynal and Hitchcock
, with little fanfare. Its 1957 Canadian re-issue, by McClelland & Stewart, as part of their New Canadian Library line, began its canonization, mostly in university classrooms. Set during the Great Depression
in the fictional mid-western prairie town of Horizon (presumably in Saskatchewan, Canada, though the precise location of Horizon is not provided), it deals with the experiences of a minister's wife, her husband and their struggles and hardships.
Her journal tells mostly of her efforts to win her husband's affections, yet he appears to withstand her efforts, which are conflicted and subtly evasive. She strikes up a friendship with Paul, a local schoolteacher and philologist, while Philip engages the affections of Judith. They attempt to adopt a Catholic child, Steve, who seems to fulfil Philip's desire for a child that Mrs. Bentley cannot apparently deliver, but this arrangement falls apart. Eventually, putatively under pressure from an increasingly hostile congregation, they prepare to move to a city. However, it is plain that the congregation and town are nothing like as philistine as Mrs. Bentley insists — neighbourhood boys admiringly lurk outside the manse listening to her practise the piano and the audience for her recital in the church hall is vastly appreciative — but Mrs. Bentley is unmoved in her contempt for them and scornful of their applause for her bravura piano performance. Assuming that the city is Saskatoon or similar prairie city and it is the middle of the Great Depression, Mrs. Bentley's dream of establishing a second-hand bookstore there as a means of escape from their unappealing life in a small town is patently absurd. Judith, who mysteriously has become pregnant, dies shortly after giving birth and the Bentleys adopt her child.
The town of Horizon is populated by an Anglo-Canadian majority and minority groups from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Its community betrays a social stratification along ethnic lines typical of the region. At the top stratum of society there are well-off middle-class families of British origin and Protestant belief that operate their own businesses in town. At the bottom there is the immigrant underclass of unskilled railway labourers including Steve Kulanich’s father. In between there are foreign-born settlers like Mr. and Mrs. Sven Ellingson, the Norwegian neighbours of the Bentleys, or country-bred people like Paul Kirby and Judith West, who have come to town for work.
Paul Denham's 1980 summary of the novel states: "There are some very good reasons why the novel has come to be so important to the Canadian tradition. It is a study of the failed artistic imagination, and of an eroding puritanism; it is also ... a good example of Frye
's concept of the garrison mentality, in its exploration of the peculiarities of the Canadian experience of nature and its relation to civilization. It is, then, a powerfully mythical novel in which many of the characteristic themes and attitudes of Canadian literature are sharply focused. Also, the patterns of imagery through which much of the novel's meaning is conveyed are densely and carefully worked... If we approach the novel as a poem, through its imagery, or as a model for the Canadian identity, we are likely to find it a very important work indeed."
Sinclair Ross
James Sinclair Ross, CM was a Canadian banker and author, best known for his fiction about life in the Canadian prairies. He is best known for his first novel, As For Me and My House.-Life and career:...
, was first published by the American company Reynal and Hitchcock
Reynal and Hitchcock
Reynal and Hitchcock was a publishing company in New York. Founded in 1933 by Eugene Reynal and Curtice Hitchcock, in 1948 it was absorbed by Harcourt, Brace.- Authors :Authors and their known dates of association with Reynal & Hitchcock.* Pearl S...
, with little fanfare. Its 1957 Canadian re-issue, by McClelland & Stewart, as part of their New Canadian Library line, began its canonization, mostly in university classrooms. Set during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
in the fictional mid-western prairie town of Horizon (presumably in Saskatchewan, Canada, though the precise location of Horizon is not provided), it deals with the experiences of a minister's wife, her husband and their struggles and hardships.
Plot summary
Mrs. Bentley, a Protestant minister’s wife, writes journal (or diary) entries on a regular basis; the time span is just over a year. The couple has just moved to yet another small town, "Horizon." Mrs. Bentley, whose first name we never learn, despairs of Philip (her husband), who is becoming ever more remote. As she records her feelings, it is clear she, as she suspects of her husband, has nothing but contempt for her husband's flock. Mrs. Bentley sees herself and Philip as frustrated artists; she has a passion for music and, in her youth, entertained dreams of success as a pianist, and he spends much of his time sketching and painting.Her journal tells mostly of her efforts to win her husband's affections, yet he appears to withstand her efforts, which are conflicted and subtly evasive. She strikes up a friendship with Paul, a local schoolteacher and philologist, while Philip engages the affections of Judith. They attempt to adopt a Catholic child, Steve, who seems to fulfil Philip's desire for a child that Mrs. Bentley cannot apparently deliver, but this arrangement falls apart. Eventually, putatively under pressure from an increasingly hostile congregation, they prepare to move to a city. However, it is plain that the congregation and town are nothing like as philistine as Mrs. Bentley insists — neighbourhood boys admiringly lurk outside the manse listening to her practise the piano and the audience for her recital in the church hall is vastly appreciative — but Mrs. Bentley is unmoved in her contempt for them and scornful of their applause for her bravura piano performance. Assuming that the city is Saskatoon or similar prairie city and it is the middle of the Great Depression, Mrs. Bentley's dream of establishing a second-hand bookstore there as a means of escape from their unappealing life in a small town is patently absurd. Judith, who mysteriously has become pregnant, dies shortly after giving birth and the Bentleys adopt her child.
Characters
- Mrs. Bentley - a Protestant minister's wife
- Rev. Philip Bentley - her husband, the reserved minister
- Steve - the Catholic child temporarily adopted by the Bentleys
- Mr. Kulanich, his hard-working immigrant father, probably from Romania
- Paul Kirby - the local schoolteacher and philologist
- Judith West - a young woman who befriends the Bentleys
- Not named "Philip" - Judith West and Philip Bentley's illegitimate child
- Mrs. Finley - a leader among the women in Horizon
- George and Stanley - Mrs. Finley's brutal sons
- Mrs. Wenderby - a prominent member of the community
- Mrs. Ellingson - a friendly neighbour of Norwegian origin
- Josephine Bird - the wife of the local doctor
- Stanley Kirby - Paul's brother, at whose ranch the Bentleys stay for a short vacation
- Laura Kirby - Stanley's rancher wife
- Annie - Metis maid at ranch
- Joe Lawson - farmer in nearby village
The town of Horizon is populated by an Anglo-Canadian majority and minority groups from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. Its community betrays a social stratification along ethnic lines typical of the region. At the top stratum of society there are well-off middle-class families of British origin and Protestant belief that operate their own businesses in town. At the bottom there is the immigrant underclass of unskilled railway labourers including Steve Kulanich’s father. In between there are foreign-born settlers like Mr. and Mrs. Sven Ellingson, the Norwegian neighbours of the Bentleys, or country-bred people like Paul Kirby and Judith West, who have come to town for work.
Literary significance and reception
Claims have been made about its significance, including M&S's own claim in 1957 that this book was a "classic." Although the novel experienced poor initial sales in 1941, its courted ambiguity and classically unreliable narrator make it an object for boundless speculation and argument.Paul Denham's 1980 summary of the novel states: "There are some very good reasons why the novel has come to be so important to the Canadian tradition. It is a study of the failed artistic imagination, and of an eroding puritanism; it is also ... a good example of Frye
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye, was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century....
's concept of the garrison mentality, in its exploration of the peculiarities of the Canadian experience of nature and its relation to civilization. It is, then, a powerfully mythical novel in which many of the characteristic themes and attitudes of Canadian literature are sharply focused. Also, the patterns of imagery through which much of the novel's meaning is conveyed are densely and carefully worked... If we approach the novel as a poem, through its imagery, or as a model for the Canadian identity, we are likely to find it a very important work indeed."
Publication details
- 1941, USA, Reynal & Hitchcock, Pub date 1941, hardback (First edition)
- 1957, Canada, McClelland & Stewart, Pub date 1957, paperback; reprinted since, by M&S, U of Nebraska