Simon raved about it, Rachel adored it, and I think we were all convinced I was going to be equally enraptured by Guard Your Daughters by Diana Tutton. But to my surprise as much as anyone’s, I was not.
Published in 1953, Guard Your Daughters centers on the Harvey girls who live in rural isolation with their mystery author father and hyper-sensitive mother. There are five daughters but the eldest, Pandora, has recently married and moved away. Now, having tasted freedom, she is determined that her younger sisters have the same opportunity as she to escape the stifling bonds that exist within the family. When she broaches the subject with Morgan, the middle child and the narrator of the book, her sister is more amused than tantalized:
‘I realise now that we’re an odd sort of family.’
‘Well of course we are.’
‘But I mean – Oh, Morgan, I do want you all to get married too!’
‘Five of us? I doubt if even Mrs Bennet managed as well as that, unless she fell back on a few parsons to help out. However, dearest, we’ll do our best.’
I think the intention is for the Harveys to appear eccentric (instead of simply poorly educated) and if I had been able to view them as such then perhaps I might have found the book charming. But instead of personalities, Tutton gives them interests, which is not at all the same thing. Thisbe, the second eldest, dabbles at writing poetry, Morgan half-heartedly plays the piano, Cressida is the homemaker (mostly out of necessity, it seems), and Teresa, the baby at fifteen, is an enthusiastic but undiscerning reader. We hear more about Thisbe’s bottom than we do about her thoughts or personality and the others aren’t much better off; Morgan is a remarkably dull narrator, recording her observations without ever attempting any analysis of her situation or family members. As a group, they at best bored me and at worst irritated me to the point where I wondered how I could make it through the rest of a book about such shallow, lazy, ungenerous creatures (Cressida is perhaps the exception to that, but Morgan seems to ignore her even more than she does her other siblings). I was particularly irritated by some of their cattier comments to one another, revealing jealousies that are typical between sisters but which were underlain with very little affection. And Morgan’s petty criticisms of other people’s appearances still bother me – if you are going to do that, you had better be Flora Post. Only Flora, with her typically blunt and unemotional delivery, could say such things and still leave you liking her, knowing that the criticism had nothing to do with making herself feel better at another’s expense. I have no such confidence about Morgan’s motivations.
The Harvey girls’ largely self-imposed isolation is somewhat broken up by visits from outsiders – they meet two young men over the course of the novel – and a new friendship with a flashy young neighbour and her equally fast set of friends. But, to be honest, these outsiders mattered very little to the story as a whole and any encounters with them merely emphasized the episodic nature of the book. A visit from one of the young men, however, did give Morgan cause to consider her father’s work and I will be forever thankful for that since the description of the charts Mr Harvey uses to map out the movements of the characters in his mystery novels was my favourite moment in the entire book. I do like hearing about how authors work.
Comparisons to Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle are inevitable – there are too many similarities to be overlooked and they were published only five years apart (in 1948 and 1953) – but the Mortmains are superior to the Harveys in every conceivable way. Part of the charm of Cassandra’s diaries is how clearly she sees the people around her and how very interested she is in them. She adores her family, knows them each as well as they do themselves (or likes to think she does), but has no illusions about them (just as they have no illusions about her). They exhaust her and try her patience but she clearly shows what, despite their very real flaws, is most loveable about them. Morgan never manages to do that, never even attempts it, and I never felt the kind of connection between her and her sisters that there is between Cassandra and any member of her family. And as for eccentrics, well, who could possibly be more eccentric than Topaz? Cassandra and Rose try to masquerade as conventional young ladies whereas the Harvey girls affect eccentricity (or, rather, Tutton affects it for them). Even Rose at her most desperately snobbish is more endearing than any of the Harvey girls at her very best. At least Rose had purpose and ambition; the Harvey girls, with the exception of Pandora, are a sadly lifeless, charmless bunch.
I did not loathe Guard Your Daughters but neither did I find it particularly special or memorable. Tutton’s writing can feel a bit cheap at times but it is serviceable. For me, the greatest sin is that the girls are so unrelentingly flat and boring. If you are looking for an I Capture the Castle readalike, you had much better try The Montmaray Journals by Michelle Cooper, which has a narrator every bit as complex and intelligent as Cassandra. Or, better yet, just reread I Capture the Castle.
The Captive Reader 
Nice review though not very nice about the book!
Glad you enjoyed the review, Harriet.
A very thoughful review. I still have my copy on the TBR pile, so when I get around to reading it, it will be (mentally) with your review on one hand & Simon’s on the other.
Do try to go into the book with all the excitement that Simon and Rachel’s reviews reflect. Hopefully, you’ll love it as much as they do. I don’t want people to dislike books that others adore, this just wasn’t for me.
As one of the seemingly few people I know who didn’t care all that much for I Capture the Castle, I haven’t been as eager to seek this one out. I think you’ve confirmed for me that this one can wait a while longer. I love the thoroughness that you give to your reviews and definitely appreciate the time it takes to write them up!
What! Not love I Capture the Castle!?! Susan, my entire view of you has been shaken. 😉 Joking aside, I am glad you enjoyed the review.
Oh, Claire Claire Claire! This physically pains me! To hear the liveliest, most charming characters I have ever read described as lifeless and charmless! I want to put my hands over their eyes, so they cannot read your words!
But, seriously, I’m glad you thoughtfully analysed why you didn’t much like this novel, as it would have made me much sadder if you’d not explained why you didn’t like it. So, while I (unusually) find myself disagreeing with everything you say, we can still be friends 😉
Simon, I tried so hard to see the characters through your eyes while I was reading this, to find what was charming and enchanting about them. Obviously, it didn’t quite work.
It feels very strange to have such a different take on a book than you but I’m glad we can still be friends! 😉
I do need to read I Capture the Castle, it has been on my TBR list forever. I’ve tagged you with an award, join in if you like!
You do need to read I Capture the Castle, Gavin! It is one of my all-time favourites. And thank you for the award; that was very kind of you.
I Capture the Castle – how many reading disappointments is this one short novel responsible for?! 😉 I must join Claire in feeling that it is a pinnacle of a certain genre, therefore the comparisons, often unfavorable to the comparee, are inevitable.
Even Dodie Smith couldn’t pull off another one anywhere close.
I am suddenly very keen to read Guard Your Daughters, despite (or perhaps because of?) these conflicting reviews. Another quest begins…
I Capture the Castle is unparalleled as far as I’m concerned but I can’t say it has ever been responsible for any reading disappointment before this. It is such a unique book that I can’t think of many books it would make sense to compare it to, at least from my own reading.
And Guard Your Daughters is on its way to you now. I hope you have better luck with it than I did!
It’s here!
Terribly curious – I opened it and was going to dip immediately in but restrained myself and set it aside until later. I’ll be retiring early to bed tonight, and will bully my minions (son & daughter, aka Slave 1 & Slave 2 – family joke – the reality is very much the opposite!) to keep my tea cup filled and a few snacks supplied, so I can read away in perfect comfort.
Thank you so very much, Claire. A review shall be posted as soon as I have made up my mind as to which camp I fall into.
I am so glad it arrived quickly and that you’ll have a chance to get started right away!
Your family “Slave 1 and Slave 2” joke is very similar to our family refrain of “What did your last slave die of?”!
I also tried to see the characters through Simon’s eyes but couldn’t — which is unheard of. @:-( The edition I read was only around 250 pages and yet I plodded through, taking days to read it. I’m very ok with a book not having much plot but this one was more like a series of short stories that didn’t seem connected — like it just couldn’t get going. When I was about 20 or so pages from the end, I thought where *is* this going? Tutton did pull the ending off better than I expected. I finally figured out what the book was supposed to be about. I’ve been feeling sort of guilty that I found the book boring — I loved I Capture the Castle — so I thoroughly enjoyed your review.
PS Surprisingly my university library had a copy of it.
It is unheard of for me too, Margaret. Most upsetting!
Responses do seem to differ on this book. I managed to pick up a secondhand copy and must read soon and find out which side of the fence I’ll end up on.
You must! I’ll be interested to hear which camp you end up in.
Someone asked me if I was enjoying Guard Your Daughters as I was reading it one day. I had to tell her that there wasn’t one character in it that I liked. I particularly loathed the parents, and I’m still unable to say why I disliked them so much, but didn’t feel at all the same way about James Mortmain (who is no prize as a parent, either).
Yay, someone else who didn’t like anyone in this novel! I felt more strongly about the girls than I did their parents but that was probably just because we saw so much more of them. And as for liking James Mortmain, I think it has everything to do with him being an interesting person in his own right, which neither of the Harvey parents were.
I liked this much more than you did, but I do wonder if I’d have liked it more without the comparisons to I Capture the Castle. Probably not, right? Probably in any case I would have noticed the similarities and found it wanting?
I think if you’ve read I Capture the Castle then the comparisons are inevitable, even if no one mentions them beforehand. I mean, how can you avoid it once Gregory’s car breaks down in circumstances eerily reminiscent of the Mortmains’ first meeting with Cottons?
I’m so glad that someone else didn’t like this novel! And thank you for writing such a thoughtful and clearly reasoned account of why. To me it just seemed a second-rate knock off of ICTC. It was cloying and sentimental, and I agree with you that Morgan’s narrative voice never achieves the distinctiveness or charm of a Cassandra or a Flora. The self-proclaimed eccentricity didn’t really convince either. The family are so self consciously pleased with being eccentric, while at the same time continually marking their position in the upper-middle classes. Odd, really, to be continually saying how special you are, while at the same time showing how you know how to behave in a way which is shows you belong to a certain group.
Thank you also for the analysis of why the characters don’t convince – I think you’ve got that spot on!
I was wondering if you were going to leave a comment, Erica, since I knew that you were one of the dissenters when Simon posted his review! I am not sure I would call the book sentimental, though maybe emotionally-manipulative? Sentiment I can usually handle; this felt almost callous at times, except when it was wanting us to be shocked, which did not work at all. The whole kerfuffle around Cressida had me shaking the book (since I couldn’t shake Morgan), cursing the girls for being so oblivious to their sister’s character that they could think she had harmed herself. Yes, let’s just all stand here being teary-eyed and dramatic. That seems like an appropriate response. Ugh.
Ugh indeed. I experienced several urges to chuck the book across the room! I have now donated it to the collection rather than keeping it, despite its very pretty cover.
Well I am surprised! But I know what you mean – I set my misgivings aside and just allowed myself to enjoy it, but yes, there are a lot of unlikeable characters and it is a blatant rip off of ICTC. Here’s an idea – maybe it was meant as a parody of ICTC? Like Cold Comfort Farm is of Mary Webb’s novels?!?!
Nice idea, but I don’t think this was meant as a parody. For one thing, shouldn’t a parody be funny? I did try to put aside my misgivings after I started reading but, clearly, I wasn’t as successful as you!
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I really disliked this book too and am so glad that I read your review before reading it, or I would have really wondered about myself! As you said, I found the sisters to be ignorant rather than eccentric, and they seemed to wallow in it and be quite pleased with themselves! I didn’t feel the sisters had truly close relationships, other than Pandora, who was the only I liked of the bunch. I’ve never commented here before, but read your blog religiously and am looking forward to seeing your “best of 2012” list. I am most grateful for being led to Guy Gavriel Kay–I had several of his books but didn’t get them off of the shelf until you reviewed The Lions of al-Rassan, which was amazing–I was completely immersed.
Erika, thank you so much for commenting and letting me know you’ve been reading! I did wonder about myself when I was reading this since until then I had only read glowing reviews of the book, so I am happy that you found our shared dislike of it reassuring. 😉 Like you, Pandora was the only one of the sisters I liked, I think because she was the only one who seemed to be observing and understanding the rest of the family. All the other sisters – and the parents – are so self-absorbed that they have no interest in one another’s characters. Pandora, on the other hand, seems to see everyone for who they are.
My “Best of 2012” list is coming, though, as usual, it probably won’t be posted until the last few days of December. Obviously, this one won’t be on it!
[…] a b c d e Heavenali. “Guard Your Daughters – Diana Tutton (1953)”. Heavenali (blog), Feb. 19, […]