According to Queeney

July 23, 2001
As she has proved time and again, most recently in Every Man for Himself
and Master Georgie, few novelists now alive can match Bainbridge for the uncanny precision with which she enters into the ethos of a previous era. This time it is the period of Dr. Samuel Johnson, and the strange relationship he built in his later years with wealthy Southwark brewer Henry Thrale and his vivacious but moody wife, Hester. Some of it is seen through the eyes of Mrs. Thrale's eldest daughter, the Queeney of the title, but such is Bainbridge's virtuosity with points of view that she can move into Dr. Johnson's or Mrs. Thrale's heads at will. This brief novel—for each scene is pared down to its essentials—is more a sketch of a way of life and feeling than a full-blown narrative. The great lexicographer is brought to life more vividly than by any chronicler since James Boswell. We see him enjoying the Thrales' hospitality, indulging in mostly imaginary dalliances with his hostess and sparring with the likes of Garrick and Goldsmith. He accompanies the Thrales and their hangers-on on a European journey that is freighted with woe, and also proudly escorts them on a pilgrimage to his hometown of Lichfield. The tension between the bizarre manners of the day and the unexpressed passions burning within is beautifully caught, and Queeney's skeptical commentary lends just the right distance. If in the end the impression is more of a study in the difficulties of friendship and the ravages of time, the extraordinary craft more than compensates for a lack of narrative drive.

In this outstanding historical novel, Beryl Bainbridge, a five-time nominee for Britain's Booker Prize, continues thoughtfully and logically to reconstruct history. This time we are privy to the last twenty years in the life of Samuel Johnson, not according to Boswell, but ACCORDING TO QUEENEY, the daughter of Johnson's final confidante, Mrs. Thrale. Queeney's droll observations level the adult world's pretensions. Miriam Margolyes converts Johnson's metaphorical "black dog crouching on the landing" into a palpable thing, rather than the chimera it is. Johnson's preoccupation with his own melancholy and his tendency toward masochism are subtly developed by Bainbridge, and brought to life with equal finesse by Margolyes. The union of author, subject, and performance makes this a memorable literary event. Fascinating storytelling. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine