The Heat of the Day

What’s the book?
We apologize for our ineptness and general lateness in bringing you this fourth Book Worth a Look. Elizabeth Bowen’s The Heat of the Day may be a novel of which, frankly, you have never heard. Bowen herself flew slightly under the American radar as an Anglo-Irish author of late modernism. Her relative underratedness, however, should not deter you from attempting a read that combines subtle psychological depth with a realistic portrayal of femininity within her protagonist’s upper-crust society life.

What’s it about?

We will only give you a little more back-cover blurb info because, well, it’s already been written by the blurb-writers. Essentially, The Heat of the Day depicts woman living and loving during the blitz of London of the Second World War, and the intrigue (there is possibly a hint of spy-thriller involved) that surrounds her relationship with the important men in her life. The word sensibility comes to mind when one thinks of the main foci of the story–Stella Rodney, the protagonist, is compelling as a character study, a relatively normal widow going about her life in the extraordinary circumstances of WWII.

Why should you read it?

1984 and Death of a Salesman, both of which also came out in 1949, may be more vividly stowed away in your literary Rolodex. But The Heat of the Day only gains appeal from its understated fame–the novel is all about understatement. Its depiction of modern loneliness is tempered by its commitment to dead-on realism, and its author was herself involved in the chaotic world of the London blitz. Free indirect discourse (a word often thrown around by professors that passed on their teachings to SportsHuman ears) is sprinkled throughout the narration to reinforce the importance of perspective to the various characters involved in the occasional spy-thriller-esque moments of the plot. It is also one of a less-populated class of late modern novels written by women, and is unique because of this feminine point of view (on a subject–spies and bombs–typically delved into by men). The development of the intrigue within the high-society/World War II framework makes it a good read that offers a chance to experience a rather uncommon, modern voice.