Madam by Phoebe WynneMy rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Madam by Phoebe Rynne is billed as a modern gothic, and the “gothic” part is certainly taken care of by Caldonbrae Hall, the forbidding Scottish mansion, now serving as a girls’ boarding school, at which teacher Rose Christie arrives in 1992 as its new head of Classics. Chosen as a result of a recommendation from a colleague, Rose’s youth and relatively limited experience seem hardly to fit her for such a senior position at a prestigious school, but the salary and benefits will assist her in caring for her mother, who has MS and is steadily getting worse. Rose is even less prepared for the secrets she will find within the walls of Caldonbrae.
Madam, which takes its title from the peculiar custom at the school of addressing all the female staff indistinguishably as “Madam” (and all males as “Sir”) had a rather slow start, although it did pick up after the first third or so as Rose gets to know and slowly win over her initially hostile students and also attempts to navigate the labyrinthine structure (both figurative and literal) of the school. After that, it builds towards a shattering climax.
While my opinion of the book improved as it went on, my biggest problem was suspending my disbelief about whether – even in the 1990s - its system of “education” could have been maintained and kept secret from the world at large, especially given the fact that part of it was that its students would be moving in the highest circles of society, and it seemed unlikely that they would have been able to be kept isolated and insulated from “new” ideas for what would essentially have been the rest of their lives. This is where the “modern” part of the description failed for me. I could see this taking place far more easily in the 1950s or 1920s, but then, of course, most of the “traditions” would have seemed much less outlandish. I also found the character of Rose to be so impulsive and unable to keep from voicing her disapproval and opposition that it became unbelievable that they would have kept her on for as long as they did, continuing to give her “another chance” however outrageously (in their view) she behaved. (view spoiler)
Rose's mother, too, was not very believable as a feminist; this was a situation where the author would have benefited by “showing, not telling,” as the saying goes, since we're told that she was one but never see any evidence of it in the “present” of the book or even in the dealings with her daughter in the past to which we are made privy.
On the other hand, I did like the stories about strong women in the classical tradition (although they rarely came to positive ends) and how Rose used them to encourage her students to question the future that was laid out in front of them. On the whole, I would give this book 2.5 stars, mainly due to my issues with it, but will round up to 3 for the purposes of Goodreads, which unfortunately doesn't allow half-star ratings.
I received a copy of Madam for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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