The Late Breakfasters and Other Strange Stories
This honestly started as a slow-going book. But once I got in the rhythm of Robert Aickman’s writing, I was able to pick up the pace.
The main story, The Late Breakfasters is a feature-length novel that was, despite the book title, not at all strange. It was a type of mystery/romance that involved the sorrow of being a lesbian during the early 1900s as well as the negligible mention of a ghost (assumedly the ‘strange’ part). It seemed to be more a slice of life that followed the main character, Griselda, on her adventure to a mansion where she met the woman of her dreams briefly (Louise), and then in the haste of an angry hostess sending her away (without Louise’s contact information) for her sapphic transgressions, she goes about her life with a side-job of searching for this woman she fell in love with.
Some of the writing I enjoyed in this story was quite bleak, but worth mentioning in its ability to hit hard. For example, this exchange between Louise and Griselda:
“Yes. She lived in the house, but she was happiest in the Temple. She was seldom happy, poor Stephanie.”
“Like you, poor Louise.”
“Like us, poor Griselda.”
Another part that struck me was when Griselda expresses her discontent with life in such simple and painful terms:
“Griselda could not possibly go as far as that; but, after her recent loneliness and unhappiness, she admitted, though only to herself, that worse things might easily befall her. Kynaston was not very much of a man, but life, she felt, was not very much of a life.”
Despite the strong writing of Aickman, I felt deceived by this story that led me to believe something creepy was around each corner; some supernatural explanation for the missing lover maybe, but it never really came. I found myself getting into the story by the end, but it was still not my favorite.
Once this feature story was done, I much enjoyed the second section of the book where Aickman’s *actually* strange stories began. Each story was rich and read like a less-cosmic Lovecraftian tale. I was disturbed by My Poor Friend and the otherworldly implications that were ensconced in a story pertaining to life working in Parliament. I was enthralled by A Roman Question and found myself reading Plutarch afterwards like homework to better revel in the disturbance presented by Aickman. The same can be said of Rosamund’s Bower – a tale based off of a legendary maze that was said to have been built to hide Rosamund Clifford, King Henry II’s mistress, from his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine. I find it really neat that Aickman used his extensive historical knowledge to draw inspiration and create these strange tales. It just makes the whole thing way more fun.
Conclusively, I can wholeheartedly recommend Robert Aickman’s strange stories with gusto. As for his lesser-known The Late Breakfasters section, I might take a pass on it knowing what I know now, and since this story was the bulk of this book, I must give it a rating of 3/5.
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