The 27th Kingdom
by Alice Thomas Ellis
Nomination: Booker Finalist 1982
Date Read: December 29, 2020
The 27th Kingdom was a fun and strange novel – my first introduction to Ellis. Valentine is an apprentice nun and prior to her permanently taking the veil, her Mother Superior decides she needs some more real-world experience. She sends Valentine to her sister’s house, Aunt Irene.
Already living at Aunt Irene’s are her nephew, Kyril, and another lodger, Mr. Sirocco. Both Kyril and Aunt Irene are completely self-absorbed, consumed with furthering their own interests and pleasures. I was immediately curious how Valentine would fare being thrust into their worlds.
Aunt Irene, although she continually argues to the contrary, especially to the tax man, is quite comfortable. Granted she takes in lodgers, but she is able to indulge in new knick-knacks for her home, going to the races, taking tea at the Ritz, hailing cabs rather than public transit and generally enjoying her life. While memories of the war’s depravations are still fresh in everyone’s minds, it doesn’t seem that the war dampened Aunt Irene’s spirits or pocketbook.
In making room for Valentine, Mr. Sirocco is evicted without his knowledge while he’s on a business trip. It is this disregard, a man so easily forgotten, that brings Mr. Sirocco’s life to a tragic end.
Valentine, for her part, is unflappable. She is clearly committed to her chosen path, even while being forced to endure these strange personalities she suddenly finds herself amongst. She quietly goes about her business, biding her time until she can return to the convent where structure and predictability await.
What I found so charming about this novella is the quaint English neighborhood that I could envision down to the river’s breeze and a cast of neighbors that are struggling in their own ways, trying to find their way through the day. All of this culminates in a closing scene that is both amusing and sad.
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