The Servants' Quarters - Paperback

by Lynn Freed (Author)

The Servants' Quarters, a complex and sophisticated love story, evokes a vanishing world of privilege with a Pygmalion twist. Haunted by phantoms of the Second World War and the Holocaust, young Cressida lives in terror of George Harding, who, severely disfigured, has returned from the front to recover in his family's stately African home. When he plucks young Cressida's beautiful mother and her family from financial ruin, establishing them in the old servants' quarters of his estate, Cressida is swept into a future inexorably bound to his. In the new setting, she finds that she is, after all, indentured. She is conscripted to enliven George Harding's nephew, the hopelessly timid Edgar, to make him "wild and daring." And she takes on this task with resentful fury, leading the boy astray and, in the process, learning to manipulate differences in power, class, background, and ambition. Only slowly does she come to understand that George Harding himself is watching her. And waiting.

Front Jacket

THE SERVANTS QUARTERS, a complex and sophisticated love story, evokes a vanishing world of privilege with a Pygmalion twist.
Haunted by phantoms of the Second World War and the Holocaust, young Cressida lives in terror of George Harding, who, severely disfigured, has returned from the front to recover in his family s stately African home. When he plucks young Cressida s beautiful mother and her family from financial ruin, establishing them in the old servants quarter of his estate, Cressida is swept into a future inexorably bound to his.
In the new setting, she finds that she is, after all, indentured. She is conscripted to enliven George Harding s nephew, the hopelessly timid Edgar, to make him "wild and daring." And she takes on this task with resentful fury, leading the boy astray, and, in the process, learning to manipulate differences in power, class, background and ambition.
Only slowly does she come to understand that George Harding himself is watching her. And waiting.

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Back Jacket

"Freed blends Dickensian musings on class with a Bronte-like love story, set against the backdrop of South Africa after the Holocaust." --San Francisco Chronicle

Haunted by phantoms of World War II and the Holocaust, young Cressida lives in terror of George Harding, who, severely disfigured, has returned from the front to recover on his family s African estate. When Harding plucks young Cressida s beautiful mother and family from financial ruin, establishing them in the old servants quarters, Cressida is conscripted to enliven Harding s nephew, the hopelessly timid Edgar. She takes on this task with resentful fury, learning to manipulate the disparities of power, class, and ambition. All the while, Harding himself is watching her. And waiting.

"A story of civilization and savagery, brisk as a strong cup of tea." --O Magazine

"The Servant s Quarters is Lynn Freed s best novel yet. Cressida, a young girl who watches those around her patch up their wounds from the war and carry on with the weight of pretense, is as observant and as wickedly truthful as any Jane Austen character." Amy Tan

LYNN FREED was awarded the inaugural Katherine Anne Porter Award for fiction by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is the author of six novels, a short story collection, and a collection of essays. She lives in California."