The lust of an old man is disgusting but the lust of an old woman is worse. Everyone knows that. Certainly, Susan knew it. ~Susan and Miffy
In the Acknowledgements at the end, author Jane Campbell says of writing Cat Brushing: I must wholeheartedly thank my four children who have generously accepted the fact that their mother, rather than entering a simple and trouble-free dotage, has rather inappropriately at the age of eighty become the published author of these provocative and transgressive stories. I had no idea until that point that this was a debut collection (at eighty!); nothing in the writing feels amateur or unpractised. This collection is comprised of thirteen stories, each from the POV of a different elderly woman (and while each of them seems to be a white, well off British woman, that’s pretty much all the characters have in common; there is breadth here), and while primarily focussing on memory (and its loss), love (and its loss), and making new beginnings (even at an advanced age; even against one’s will), these stories nearly all contain lust and sex (if only in yearning memory) and passions that surprise even the women feeling them. Provocative and transgressive, indeed. Characters express deep sadness, unexpected joy, homicidal rage, and moments of elegiac contemplation (and especially when brushing one's cat; not a euphemism). Settings range from England to Bermuda to Africa, even to a near future where technology is being developed to deal with the old people. This is not a long read but I felt compelled to pause after each story to savour and think about it before turning to the next; I am delighted to have had an early chance to read this collection and I do hope it finds a wide readership. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
Trying so hard to keep a grip on reality seemed like a waste of time when after all reality was so cruel. That face in the mirror in the morning, the ghastly hair, the lost waistline . Some, of course, are slim. Some, of course, don’t drink or eat too much. But what else was left? ~The Scratch
I don’t want to go through and analyse each story — beyond saying that there were no real clunkers in here; each is a lovely gem of varying sparkle — and while most of these quotes should speak for themselves, I do want to note that the following is from the POV of a character who has been moved to a care facility during some future coronavirus “Long Lockdown”, and although her situation has some enviable sci-fi perks, I’m sure these are relatable feelings for a lot of the folks who have felt isolated in long term care:
There are some poignant articles being written at the moment about whether this is life or is it simply not-death. In other words, is it worth it? ~Lockdown Fantasms
And, yes, I may have mostly picked out melancholy quotes:
Through the smoke I looked out at the darkening light. It was the kind of summer evening that makes you think kindly of death and fills your soul with nostalgia for what never was. There was a sniff of the eternal about it; a nudge from the noumenon, from beyond the detritus of the phenomenal, and I knew I had to get there. ~Schopenhauer and I
Or:
I am not crying. When you are as old as I am your eyes water all the time and I think there is a draught coming in from the front door; perhaps the people from the hospital have arrived.~Le Mot Perdu
But there was plenty of cheekiness here as well:
Old men, even good-looking ones, get desperate as their libidinal options shrink. All cats are grey at dusk. ~Kindness
Like Jane Campbell herself, these stories serve to remind us that the elderly are still fully alive with contributions to make — where there’s breath, there’s thought and heat — and shame on me for being surprised at how transgressive this collection really is. I hope Campbell is hard at work writing a dozen more stories; I’d read’em.
