To round off the year, our chosen author was Graham Greene whose works span a large part of the 20th century. He is described as a Catholic novelist and this particular religion features as a theme in much of his writing. Greene was also interested in the workings and intrigues of international politics and espionage, as seen in ‘The Quiet American’ and ‘Our Man in Havana’ among others; his travels eventually led to his being recruited into MI6 and he later became friendly with Kim Philby, the Soviet agent.
In 1951 he wrote ‘The End of the Affair’, later made into two feature films in 1955 and 1999. The novel examines the obsessions and jealousy within the relationships between three central characters: writer Maurice Bendrix, his lover Sarah Miles and her husband, civil servant Henry Miles. The novel is set in London during World War Two and begins when his affair with Sarah is over. The relationship is intense yet Bendrix convinces himself that it will never last, despite his love for her; however, this love comes over as being selfish and possessive. Sarah’s marriage to Henry is unfulfilling, but she is loyal to him and, following Bendrix’s survival of a bomb raid, she makes a pact with God and seeks conversion to the Catholic faith, thus ending the affair. Bendrix continues to challenge God to explain and justify events and it seems that Greene uses his characters to develop a narrative about love, relationships and faith.
This novel reflects many aspects of Graham Greene’s own life – his affair with Catherine Walston, the bombing of Greene’s own house near Clapham Common and his struggles with the contradictions in a Catholicism he couldn’t live without, but found it difficult to live with.
Some group members had read this book a long time ago and, having re-read it recently, saw it in a different light – not as a tragic love affair, but the epitome of all that is damaging in a relationship. It was agreed that Bendrix was a controlling monster of a character, but this did not detract from Greene’s moving and evocative writing – a darker version of ‘Brief Encounter’ perhaps?
Louise Elsome
Bookworms Group Coordinator