St. Anne's of the Locks is set in the Midlands in the early part of
the twentieth century, against the backdrop of the First World War
and its aftermath. The title comes from the name of a mental
asylum, to which were admitted, in addition to the mentally ill,
various social misfits, troublesome nonconformists, unmarried
pregnant women and women who were suffering from postnatal
depression, domestic violence, diseases associated with poverty and
malnourishment. The main character is one such woman, Mary
Brownhill, a country girl who goes into service with a family of
industrialists. She is a free spirit who aspires to better things
and has her mind opened up through reading. Her employer, James
Fawcett, who is inspired by radical political views, at odds with
his social background, encourages her in this and the two fall in
love. What follows is not just the thwarting of this relationship
as a result of the interplay of history, war, class, gender, social
mores and chance, but also the impact on other people in their
family and social circles. From the confines of St. Anne's, Mary's
voice, like that of the other women incarcerated there, calls out
for her story to be told. Yet the novel is equally concerned with
the fate of James, who is taken from the battlefields of France to
recuperate at St. Anne's. Faced with the perversity of what has
happened to him and Mary, he first attempts to take refuge in the
gold mines of South Africa, before returning for the final
denouement of the story.
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