Air and Angels

'Air and Angels' set in Cambridge and India, at around (what appears to be) the end of the nineteenth century - a time of parasols, punting, tennis parties and tea on the lawn or verandah. Its title, we considered was a reference to the 'weather' that features on many occasions throughout the book in a powerful and very atmospheric way; from the searing heat of India to the rain and wind marauding across the bare Fens of East Anglia, Eustace walking through the chill, early morning mist to the spring sun shining on the buildings and bridges of Cambridge.
   Thomas Cavendish, in his middle fifties, a Cambridge Don of significant reputation lives a quiet, celibate and orderly life with his sister. Thomas, a keen bird enthusiast, enjoys his teaching and, at the end of the day, he is happy to return to his home with his purpose-built aviary adjoining his study. Georgiana, several years younger than Thomas, idolises her brother and for years has been content to housekeep for him and engage in good works. Her close friend, Florence, is desperate to marry Thomas. Florence, lives at home with her aged mother, fantasizes about being Thomas' wife and when she discovers that Thomas is in line for the Master's position at his college, she convinces herself that he will now definitely need a wife.
   Meanwhile, in India, Kitty, a cousin of Florence, aged fifteen years and on the verge of womanhood, decides she would like to spread her wings and go to England. Her heartbroken parents, only wanting the best for their daughter, arrange for Kitty to travel back to England with her governess. The plan is for her to live with Florence whilst she completes her education. On the trip she meets an elderly missionary with whom she developed a close and important relationship, someone in whom she could confide but who dies during the voyage.
   Sometime later, whilst walking along the river on a beautiful May afternoon, Thomas sees a young girl standing on a bridge and is transfixed, and when he sees her again in the company of Florence, he realizes the young woman who has had such an effect on him is Kitty. And before he knows it, has fallen deeply in love for the first time in his life. Confused/ by the depth of these feelings he compromises everything he has.
   There is a sense of melancholy, sacrifice and death/loss running through this book. Status plays a significant part in the characters of the India and Cambridge of the day. There seemed to be several flawed characters, unable to see how their behaviour and their unfulfilled ambitions cast shadows over their own and others lives at the same time believing they could assist others in theirs. At first reading there appeared to be several female characters whose roles were undeveloped but the discussion brought us to see that might be pointing to the relatively few options women had at this time; jobs such as maid, governess, house keeper for an elderly parent or sibling for the single female or for the married woman to follow and do whatever was necessary to fit into their husbands' lives. And just how important marriage was for women and their place in the world.
   The caged birds, so loved by Thomas felt to be a metaphor for the trapped lives they were leading; tied by convention, restricted by opportunities and confined by their own limitations. Thomas's transgression with Kitty whilst seemingly innocent resulted in the remainder of his life being lived out in a suspended way in Cambridge where people seemed to forgive but not forget and from which his reputation would never recover, whilst we can only speculate on what impact it had on the remainder of her life.