DNF 25%
When netgalley approved my requested for Madam I was low-key ecstatic. However, my giddiness was short lived.
This was not the Gothic story I was hoping it would be...the 'boarding school' setting leaves a lot to be desired and although on GR this novel falls under the LGBTQ+ genre this is not a queer novel (even if I haven't finished it I have a feeling that there may be one side character who is queer). I probably could have been fine with Madam not being a very Gothic or sapphic read but I just could not look past the way the story is presented. I don't think the author is to 'blame' for this but their editor.
disclaimer: I did not finish this book so this may prove to be a fantastic read. If you are thinking of reading this book I recommend you read reviews from other readers.
Here are a few of the 'issues' I had with this book (feel free to disagree):
-the prologue, which takes place in summer 1993, strikes me as a wee bit overwritten. We have "soft silk dresses", "slim girlish arms", "the cool sweet air of the night swirled high above them as if in mockery". Still, I did like the following line, "the school building felt none of this urgency, standing firm despite its burning injury, holding fast as it was eaten from the inside out", which reminded me of Shirley Jackson.
-the prologue is followed by a letter from the headmaster to former head of Classics which doesn't add a lot to the narrative. I guess it hints at some mystery, but it was kind of too on the nose (her employment "must be terminated" and it promises "severe repercussions" if she were to discuss "the school anywhere outside its grounds").
-we then are introduced to our supposed protagonist, Rose. There is clunky scene in which she speaking to her mother on the phone, followed by her rather detailed journey to Caldonbrae Hall. Although Rose is "young" (twenty-six) she will be the new head of Classics at Caldonbrae. Her mother, who lives in Kent, is sick (cue dramatic "cough" to signal she is not well) and Rose feels kind of guilty at the prospect of going off to Scotland. Anyhow, we read of her journey. She stops at a cafe bar where a man with strong There Be Strangers™ vibes makes some cheesily ominous comments. Her train is late (oh no!) and Rose flushes "with alarm". Next thing you now Rose is Caldonbrae Hall and her driver is a bit brusque.
Do we get a detailed description of the place? No. Do we read of Rose making into her new home? No.
The scene cuts from her leaving the car to "the following morning". Talk about anticlimactic. What was the point of that drawn-out journey? Once we get to the interesting place the story just skips ahead only to skip back with a quick "the night before" in which we just read of Rose being informed that the headmaster was too busy to come meet her and she is taken to her flat (in a building near the hall? How big is it? How many flats? Do all members of staff live there? Who knows. It may be a grey building).
-When the narrative skips ahead again Rose is walking about the place, and we get a very supreficial overview of Caldonbrae, which is described as "hauntingly empty" (insert eye roll here). She spots a creepy girl who, of course, has "dark hair" and "staring eyes". Ffs. Then we get this classic line, "when she looked back at the school again—was it minutes, hours later?"
-There is no sense of place and the passage of time is not clearly rendered. I have no idea how many members of staff Rose meets, how many staff members there are....she's given a timetable that isn't correct or something and that's kind of it. The one or two colleagues she talks too are creepy and allegedly older than she is.
-Rose's first lessons are not great, the girls are disrespectful and seem to claim that they had a hand in her predecessor's departure. Rose is unnerved by the creepy girl. Every member of staff she talks to sounds as if they belong to a cult. Rose keeps forgetting the strict rules (she has to wear a smart blazer at all times, she can only address her colleagues as 'Madam' or 'Sir'—surely this would get confusing? If she asking after someone wouldn't it be easier to use their surname than to refer to the position they are in or the subject they teach?—and she asks too many questions). Although Rose seems to know that this school is more traditional and old-fashioned than her previous one, and that she is in fact closer in age to the older students than to youngest members of staff, she seems surprised that her colleagues would not select movies such as Batman Returns or Alien 3 on Movie Nights (a real ingénue).
-the writing. Not only do we have "squinting smiles" but apparently characters cannot simply "say" things (a girl "piped up", another one "chimed in", they "snap", "bark", "garble", and Rose "splutters" a total of 7 times in the course of the whole book). The author goes to great efforts in order not to use "said"....and it shows (not in a good way). A great book that discusses this (the under-usage of "said") is Stephen King's On Writing.
-not only is Rose a boring and nondescript main character but she is far too credulous. She seems more fitting to a book set in the early 19th century and not the 1990s.
Given that I dislike everything about this book I am doing myself a favour and calling it quits. The best thing about Madam is its cover design.
Anna B, Reviewer
Poppy JD C, Librarian
