This lovely series of nineteen books, which begins with My Friends the Miss Boyds, is an autobiographical account of the author's life, from childhood in North Scotland to adult life in the West Indies.
My Friend Monica is the third of Jane Duncan's books about her Friends and in it the reader gets to know Janet Sandison, the narrator, really well. In time it is the direct sequel to My Friend Muriel, and it is one of the key books in the sequence.
The Main Characters
- Janet Sandison
- "Twice" Alexander
- Lady Monica Loame
- Mattha
- Lucy (Loose)
- Daisy (Daze)
- Mr Slater
- Mrs Slater
The Plot
If it had no been for the Second World War, Janet and Monica, otherwise Lady Monica Loame, might never have met. But meet they did, when they were stationed together in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force and it was there that a strong friendship developed. After the end of the war when Janet is working at Slater's Engineering Works, alongside Alexander Alexander (Twice), she writes to tell Monica of her forthcoming marriage to Twice. Monica, in typical style, sends a telegram, "Entirely disapprove this contract with person with repetitive name".
Consequently, Monica bursts into post-war Scotland like a tornado, to "inspect" Twice as Janet's intended. Through Monica and a distant relation, Janet and Twice find the charming row of three cottages called "Crookmill" that becomes their home - and incidentally Monica's too, since she decides to move in with them. Twice embarks on a large scale renovation of the cottages with the help of a local stonemason called Mattha, whose country wisdom and caustic sense of humour enliven the scene still further.
Tragically, however, Janet has an accident one evening and spends several months confined to bed. It is during this time that Janet, Twice and Monica come to blow with each other and the friendship between Janet and Monica is severely jeopardised. Fortunately, it is the family at Reachfar (the family croft in Scotland) that step in with their values and wisdom of the ages to preserve a very valuable friendship.
A splendid book that really causes you to look within yourself and contemplate life and its values. Each installment you read makes you eager for the next book in the series. It is recommended that you read the My Friend Series in order, although each book is written chronologically in the sense that it looks at each particular Friend's influence throughout Janet's life.
My Friend Monica was published by MacMillan in 1960 and was published in paperback by Pan Books in 1962.
Linda Smallwood - Hi my name is Linda Smallwood. I am married with two sons aged 13 and 11 and live in North Wales. After 18 years working for The ...
