Guest review by Janelle Bailey, avid reader and always learning; sometimes substitute teaching, sometimes grandbabysitting, sometimes selling books

The English Teacher by Lily King

The English Teacher by Lily King

This is not a new book–it was first published in 2005)–but I came to it after first discovering Lily King and then wishing to read everything she’d written. I was not disappointed by that pursuit. King’s writing is solid, her stories holding layers of literary value, her characters thoughtfully deep and charismatic.

And it’s even been years since I read this book, but I’m still thinking about it, especially in light of some critical issues that have been developing for women these past couple of years. I often think of Vida…and also of my discussion post-reading with a great friend and fellow lover of good literature. Vida was very real to us, and she prompted a thoughtful discussion that could apply to many situations and which I think of often.

The English teacher in this novel, however, is that Vida. The book’s main character, Vida is a bit of a mess, but she wasn’t always, necessarily. It’s that during the action of this novel, she is first confronting some of her stuff, which she had been, well…stuffing…for years and years. Vida teaches English at Fayer Academy, a cozy little boarding school built in a mansion once owned by Vida’s grandfather, coincidentally. She has the third floor pretty much to herself. She’s much loved by students, named teacher of the year by then and rewarded more than once in her career, and she teaches the classics, such as Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles in ways with which any of us who’ve taught literature at all can relate, that beautiful repetition of seeing a work anew but the same, too, with a brand new group of students.

And outside of her classroom, Vida is also mom to Peter, now a freshman at Fayer…and dog mom to Walt…and she likes her wine. And she enjoys a positive, camaraderie- and history-filled, collegial relationship with many of her school colleagues, having worked there for years and living right on campus in a school-owned house.

And yet the life that Vida has been living outwardly allllll of this time has not required her to confront much of what she keeps inside…until she meets and then marries Tom.

This is a great book…thoughtful and thought-filled, well-written, characters believable and intense, and giving us access to our own stuff on the side.

I hope you have something new in the works and coming out soon, Ms. King.

Come back next Monday for another book review!