“The Go-Between”
This Victorian Era drama punctuates the best and worst of high society while exploring the loss of childhood innocence.
The book "The Go-Between" was written by L.P. Hartley and published in 1953. The title might be more familiar to British readers, however it was brought to more prominence when the story was made into a film starring Julie Christie & Margaret Leighton in 1971. There was also a TV movie in 2015. While the book isn't perfect, it's an enjoyable read. A read that left me reflecting on my own loss of innocence.
The book focuses on young Leo, a young boy of 12 (who turns 13 through the course of the book) and his experiences in the long, hot Summer of 1900. Leo spends a portion of his Summer at a countryside manor, Brandham Hall, with the Maudsley family. He makes friends, tracks the temperature, plays cricket, and goes swimming. These are all typical activities a boy of his age in the Victorian Era would experience.
The main thrust of the book, and indeed the point from which the title is derived, is that Leo becomes a "postman" or letter deliverer for two individuals engaged in forbidden love.
For me, this book was perfect to lose myself in for a few days. I was compelled as each turn of the page introduced me to a different aspect of a life that seemed both familiar and foreign. I audibly gasped at the climactic ending of the book. In that regard, the book offered a few unexpected surprises. Ultimately, the book opens with the phrase that rings true to the heartbeat of the story, "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there."
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