The Breeze from Camelot by Viña Delmar. Harcourt, Brace (1959), 309 pp.
Thirtyish record-store owner Ward Galvin appears to have what every man would have wanted in 1959 -- a loving family, a nice house, a successful business and congenial friends. But he’s deeply discontented. His problems begin with sexy wife Myra. Everything she does gets on his nerves, and he lets her know it. She concludes that he doesn’t love her anymore and files for divorce. Out on his own, Ward runs through affairs with random women. Then Trina Macklyn, daughter of a wealthy L. A. businessman, enters his shop. Having just finished boarding school in Europe, she is graceful and poised yet sheltered and unworldly. Ward is captivated, but he doesn’t know yet whether the attraction is mutual.
At first it seems that this book will offer some trenchant criticsm of middle-class life in the era of togetherness. Readers won’t expect Delmar’s viewpoint to be as downbeat as Philip K. Dick’s, but they might hope for some kind of serious portrayal by the longtime author of trendy women’s novels. Instead, the author turns the tale into a love story that for several reasons is only marginally credible. Delmar’s primary problem is that she fails to transform Ward, who never loses his initial cynicism, into a heartfelt romantic. In addition, she discounts the differences in age and class between Ward and Trina. And she adds plot twists that run from unlikely to preposterous. On the other hand, the novel’s supporting characters are numerous and well thought out. They keep the book from sinking into silliness but aren’t nearly enough to attract a modern audience.
Comments