Having heard many praises and recommendations for Fay Weldon, I went to the library and picked the first book I saw, which happened to be "Remember Me".
The satirical story of several people, connected by sexual ties and/or marriage, involving their children and details of their social positions, has a great potential. Madeleine, the first wife of Jarvis, lives with her twelve-year old daughter, Hilary, and struggles with finances and depression. Jarvis, happily married for the second time to Lily, the butcher's daughter with middle-class ambitions, and with a baby son is reluctant to give Madeleine more money and Hilary more attention. The second couple are Phillip, the doctor, and his wife, Margot, who works for Jarvis as his part-time secretary. Margot feels unsatisfied with her marriage and focuses her attention on Jarvis, because of one night's party sex in remote past, long escaped from Jarvis' memory.
Madeleine is desperate to make Jarvis miserable and to be remembered, so she devises a cunning plan to get her revenge...
The problem with this novel is, that despite its potential, the importance of the issues tackled, and the attempt to satirical humor, there are many shortcomings. The characters are flat, undeveloped and one-dimensional. This could be fine with satire, but it is too far stretched. The irony is too bold and the humor not funny. It is as if the author wanted to get even to the most unintelligent people on the planet. Ambitious task... Considering the pool of readers for this type of fiction.
I thought that I expected too much from this acclaimed feminist author, but, luckily, it seems that I have just chosen the wrong book to start. I would not recommend it to anybody, who does not know Weldon's works. It can be read later, to get the full scope, but not as the first one and definitely not as the representative one.
