The Bay of Noon

Picador
2003

The Bay of Noon opens with a strange memory - that of a crumpled plane lying wrecked on the flanks of Mount Vesuvius. The effect is disorienting - a peculiar but inspired choice for a nuanced story about a friendship between two women; Jenny, an English diplomatic assistant on assignment in post-WWII Italy. And Gioconda, the sole mistress of a decaying ancestral home rooted in the heart of Naples.

Jenny is a complicated woman, both lonely and rootless. Born in England, she spent most of her childhood in South Africa where her parents sent her to escape the Blitz. At the end of the war, instead of returning home she stayed in Africa to finish school. A tragic series of losses and disappointments kept her there. It's only when her brother marries that Jenny returns to England - by this time an adult unsure of her place in the world. Given the choice of retreating into the safe but cool embrace of her family, or striking out on her own Jenny sets her sites on Naples.

Jenny and Gioconda meet the old fashioned way - through a letter of introduction from a mutual friend. The two form a close relationship that includes Gianni, Gioconda's lover. A fourth character, the reserved biologist J.P. Tulloch provides intermittent competition for Jenny's attention. Each character vibrates with life. Gioconda is beautiful and tattered, a talented writer unable to escape the weight of her past. J.P. bristles with repressed longing. Even Gianni, a self-absorbed boor in Jenny's eyes displays unexpected moments of touching grace. It's Jenny though, who anchors this story. It's through her courage, and strength and clarity of mind that we experience both the limits and limitlessness of friendship, intimacy and betrayal.

Many thanks to publisher, Picador for releasing a new edition of this 1970 classic. It's rare to find a novel about female friendship that manages to be both romantic and unsentimental. May author Shirley Hazzard's gorgeous prose grace the lives of book lovers for many years to come!