Confinement is the second of Katharine McMahon’s books that I’ve read. The Rose of Sebastopol wasn’t a particular favorite, but I decided to give the author another try with this book. I was disappointed again.

This novel is one of McMahon’s earlier novels, reprinted just this past year. It centers around a girls’ school called Priors Heath, and splits time between the 1840s and ‘50s, and the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘90s. In 1849, Bess Hardemon arrives at Priors Heath, a rather Brontean institution, to be a teacher, eventually struggling up through the ranks to become its headmistress; in 1967, Sarah Beckett is a student at Priors Heath, later returning to be a teacher herself.

Confinement constantly jumps forwards and backwards in time. Just as the author gets you comfortably settled with one story, she immediately jumps to the other. There are a lot more subtle ways to deal with time shifts such as these, and McMahon doesn’t really know in this novel how to do them. And the characters are a bit hard to understand, too. For example, Imogen’s brother Lawrence is twice-divorced, a failure at his career, and not particularly good-looking, so it was hard for me to understand why Sarah was so attracted to him. It was also difficult to understand her friendship with Imogen, too, when the girls were so different.

The author also introduces a lot of ideas, but they’re half-formed: educational reform, women’s rights, etc., are all touched on but never elaborated. Many women in the 19th century turned to teaching/governessing because it was the only option, apart from marriage, that was available to them; it’s ironic, then, that to escape her marriage and gain a bit of independence, Sarah becomes a teacher. I enjoyed the idea of the book; I just didn’t enjoy how it all was presented for the reader. ( )

I picked up this book on my travels and immediately misread the blurb on the back- I thought this book was about a Victorian hospital, Priors Health. Oops. It's actually about a school called Priors Heath with two parallel stories- Bess in the 1850s and Sarah from late 1960s-1990s. From each story (told in alternate chapters), we learn more about both stories. Bess is a very forward thinking headmistress at Priors Heath, while Sarah is a restrained student. Later we see Sarah grown up, thinking about her choices (or lack of them).

I found this book well written, but restrained. I wasn't overly sympathetic towards Sarah; I felt she lacked conviction and passion. I didn't really care what happened to her. Bess was a more dynamic character and I would have happily read a lot more about her.

The supporting characters, Christina and Imogen were sketchily written. Christina seems sycophantic, Imogen moody. The plotlines involving them were interesting but I would have liked to have seen more feeling.

Apparently this book has been compared with Jane Eyre. I think Jane Eyre shows a lot more feeling and passion. Don't read it if you're looking for a substitute, but this book is good for cosy, rainy days. ( )