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Second Sight
Smart, savvy and original, Sally Emerson's story about a young woman growing up with an amoral mother deftly portrays youth and its careful obsessions. For fifteen-year-old Jennifer Hamilton, the transition from adolescence to adulthood is painful and bewildering. Too mature to return to the securities of childhood, yet unwilling to join a world of adults, Jennifer creates a psychic world in which her companions are Shelley and the Restoration playwright Aphra Behn. Adding to Jennifer's self-doubt is her exuberant and capricious mother. When her mother brings home the young, attractive architect Paul, Jennifer becomes aware of new and unusual feelings, and before long mother and daughter are competing for Paul's attention.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
About the author
Sally Emerson
33 books4 followersSally Emerson is the award-winning authors of novels including Heat, Separation and Second Sight and an anthologist of poetry and prose. She lives in London. Her website is www.sallyemerson.com.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 27, 2013
I'll be honest. I picked this book off my shelves solely because it was a worn hardback that sitting on my over-the bathtub-holder couldn't make any worse. Later, I thought, good, it appears to be a YA book and I have been meaning to read more of them. Still later I noticed the title and my interest picked up – always a sucker for the paranormal. Except...except for the occasional mentions (that bike gave me a bad feeling; I suddenly had to get out and to the store), the belief that the MC (Jennifer) has that she has second sight (though she doesn't call it that), and her two or three meetings with a fortune teller (Mr Davidson), Jennifer is totally consumed by other things. Now, of course she is, she's a teenager. She would be concerned with her appearance, loneliness, how others perceive her; her parents, their actions and how they reflect on her, how they think of her, and treat her; her obsession with Shelley and those surrounding his life. Friends? One dead already when the book begins, two new ones much older than she, both male. She has no one to confide in and we do feel her pain, but that is all that comes through clearly.
There are some major...arcs, shall we call them, that begin strongly and carry on rather well for a while, but then they just fizzle out with a convenient twist, the murder trial of an innocent man ends when a letter confessing to all magically appears; the mother runs off to join her lover, is rejected so sells her business, gives all the money to a hospital (is that even legal? Doesn't she owe something to the family she has abandoned?), and stays on to run it, again all told in a letter. The most important of these is the seance that Jennifer plans for with Mr Davidson and appears to want very much, though she is also, wisely, afraid. She worries the idea of it to death, practices for it, buys and cooks for it. Then, at the last minute, without informing her partner in crime Mr Davidson, that last morning in the story, the last few paragraphs in the book, she sets up a romantic dinner for her father and the wife of a friend, and when the friend arrives, she walks out, wondering what will happen next to her, where she'll go, what she'll do. Huh?
The title of the book and the appearance of it being a YA novel assumes that we see the tale through the eyes of Jennifer. But two-thirds or more through we suddenly get plunged into the head of the mother, who, contrary to Jennifer's belief, is just as immature as her daughter. I actually like that 'lesson' to teenagers, that nothing magically changes when one becomes an adult, mature, fully formed, and in control of one's thoughts and emotions, but the way it is done is jarring and the 'lesson' loses its impact. A couple of times the book builds to a possible crisis, and then fizzles, like the author is afraid of following through. For example, the father has the knowledge of his wife's repeated infidelity thrust into his face and responds with 'I knew all along, I allowed it to happen. No big deal' (BFD?). Fizzle, fizzle, so what.
Even in the details there are jarring inconsistencies, people described one way, standing or sitting like so and suddenly they are completely different. So incredibly annoying! There is a lot of potential here, I am actually angry that it wasn't fulfilled. Did the author have beta readers? Was the editor asleep? Why was it allowed to be published in this form? It could have been so much better.
[Additional note: My copy came from an auction box labeled The British Council, Nicosia, Library, and stamped 'discard'. It was published in 1980. It is obvious from the blurb in GR that it is the same book as the one others have listed, except that they record the publishing date as 1992. Perhaps this later edition came after Sally Emerson had become known? Perhaps this later edition has been more carefully edited. That might account for our vast difference in ratings. I hope for the author's sake she was allowed to work on it before re-issuing.]
There are some major...arcs, shall we call them, that begin strongly and carry on rather well for a while, but then they just fizzle out with a convenient twist, the murder trial of an innocent man ends when a letter confessing to all magically appears; the mother runs off to join her lover, is rejected so sells her business, gives all the money to a hospital (is that even legal? Doesn't she owe something to the family she has abandoned?), and stays on to run it, again all told in a letter. The most important of these is the seance that Jennifer plans for with Mr Davidson and appears to want very much, though she is also, wisely, afraid. She worries the idea of it to death, practices for it, buys and cooks for it. Then, at the last minute, without informing her partner in crime Mr Davidson, that last morning in the story, the last few paragraphs in the book, she sets up a romantic dinner for her father and the wife of a friend, and when the friend arrives, she walks out, wondering what will happen next to her, where she'll go, what she'll do. Huh?
The title of the book and the appearance of it being a YA novel assumes that we see the tale through the eyes of Jennifer. But two-thirds or more through we suddenly get plunged into the head of the mother, who, contrary to Jennifer's belief, is just as immature as her daughter. I actually like that 'lesson' to teenagers, that nothing magically changes when one becomes an adult, mature, fully formed, and in control of one's thoughts and emotions, but the way it is done is jarring and the 'lesson' loses its impact. A couple of times the book builds to a possible crisis, and then fizzles, like the author is afraid of following through. For example, the father has the knowledge of his wife's repeated infidelity thrust into his face and responds with 'I knew all along, I allowed it to happen. No big deal' (BFD?). Fizzle, fizzle, so what.
Even in the details there are jarring inconsistencies, people described one way, standing or sitting like so and suddenly they are completely different. So incredibly annoying! There is a lot of potential here, I am actually angry that it wasn't fulfilled. Did the author have beta readers? Was the editor asleep? Why was it allowed to be published in this form? It could have been so much better.
[Additional note: My copy came from an auction box labeled The British Council, Nicosia, Library, and stamped 'discard'. It was published in 1980. It is obvious from the blurb in GR that it is the same book as the one others have listed, except that they record the publishing date as 1992. Perhaps this later edition came after Sally Emerson had become known? Perhaps this later edition has been more carefully edited. That might account for our vast difference in ratings. I hope for the author's sake she was allowed to work on it before re-issuing.]
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2017
I’m always in the market for a reprint, so when the publisher offered me this one, I was pleased to accept, despite the fact that I’d never heard of Sally Emerson. Perhaps you have, though. It turns out she is a distinguished living author, travel writer and compiler of anthologies. Her six novels appeared, to great acclaim, between 1980 and 2001, and are now being reissued as forgotten classics by Quartet Books.
Second Sight was Emerson’s first novel, published in 1980. This is the story of fifteen-year-old Jennifer Hamilton, the only child of an academic author father and a mother who runs a successful restaurant. Sarah Hamilton is gorgeous, exuberant, adored by all, and totally amoral. The novel begins with Jennifer running down to the restaurant one late evening in search of her mother, and being met by a shocking sight:
From the top of the stairs she had an aerial view of a burly man lying between the legs of a naked woman. He leapt off, leaving Jennifer with the momentary but unforgettable sight of her mother spreadeagled, a sacrificial victim, over one of the low, obviously strong, drinks tables. The mat of public hair, the nipples, the red distorted face all jumped out at Jennifer. She gasped. So did Sarah. Sarah cascaded off the table, shouting ‘Switch out those fucking lights now.’
That her mother has affairs is not news to Jennifer, and clearly her father is also aware of the fact, though he manages to continue to adore his serially adulterous wife. For Jennifer, though, struggling with her own emerging sexuality, this experience is deeply upsetting and confusing. But worse is to follow. Sarah soon moves on from the unattractive middle-aged man Jennifer caught her with, and becomes involved with Paul, a beautiful young architect who has moved into a nearby flat. She has always managed to avoid emotional involvement with her string of lovers, but much to her own surprise becomes obsessively bessotted with the handsome, cold-hearted young man. Paul, however, starts to take an interest in Jennifer, who is torn between powerful attraction and horrified shame.
All this sounds as if it might be a racy and sensational novel, but it is as far from that as could be. It’s an extraordinarily perceptive depiction of what it’s like to grow up and find oneself in a world in which sexual feelings arise and have to be dealt with. Sensitive, intelligent and thoughtful, Jennifer is deeply troubled by Paul and his cool willingness to continue to sleep with her mother while simultaneously making overt sexual advances to herself. All this was superbly done. I have to admit that there was one aspect of the novel that I found slightly less satisfying, and which in fact gives the book its title. Jennifer is a highly imaginative girl, very studious and introspective, and she's developed a fascination with two literary figures from the past: Aphra Behn, the 17th century poet and playwright, and the poet Shelley. She spends a lot of private time communing mentally with them, and eventually meets a rather curious elderly psychic who, she hopes, will set up a seance where she can contact Shelley in person. He does actually manage to conjure up a very dear friend of Jennifer's, who tragically died in an accident a couple of years earlier, and concludes that Jennifer herself has psychic abilities. All this is quite interesting in itself, but I couldn't quite see what it added to the overall direction in which the novel was going, though perhaps the fact that in the end Jennifer decides not to pursue the possibility of contacting Shelley acts as an indication of her growing maturity?
This is really just a quibble, though. Sally Emerson writes beautifully and has a wonderfully clear understanding of the way peoples' hearts and minds work. I look forward to reading more by this talented and fascinating author.
Second Sight was Emerson’s first novel, published in 1980. This is the story of fifteen-year-old Jennifer Hamilton, the only child of an academic author father and a mother who runs a successful restaurant. Sarah Hamilton is gorgeous, exuberant, adored by all, and totally amoral. The novel begins with Jennifer running down to the restaurant one late evening in search of her mother, and being met by a shocking sight:
From the top of the stairs she had an aerial view of a burly man lying between the legs of a naked woman. He leapt off, leaving Jennifer with the momentary but unforgettable sight of her mother spreadeagled, a sacrificial victim, over one of the low, obviously strong, drinks tables. The mat of public hair, the nipples, the red distorted face all jumped out at Jennifer. She gasped. So did Sarah. Sarah cascaded off the table, shouting ‘Switch out those fucking lights now.’
That her mother has affairs is not news to Jennifer, and clearly her father is also aware of the fact, though he manages to continue to adore his serially adulterous wife. For Jennifer, though, struggling with her own emerging sexuality, this experience is deeply upsetting and confusing. But worse is to follow. Sarah soon moves on from the unattractive middle-aged man Jennifer caught her with, and becomes involved with Paul, a beautiful young architect who has moved into a nearby flat. She has always managed to avoid emotional involvement with her string of lovers, but much to her own surprise becomes obsessively bessotted with the handsome, cold-hearted young man. Paul, however, starts to take an interest in Jennifer, who is torn between powerful attraction and horrified shame.
All this sounds as if it might be a racy and sensational novel, but it is as far from that as could be. It’s an extraordinarily perceptive depiction of what it’s like to grow up and find oneself in a world in which sexual feelings arise and have to be dealt with. Sensitive, intelligent and thoughtful, Jennifer is deeply troubled by Paul and his cool willingness to continue to sleep with her mother while simultaneously making overt sexual advances to herself. All this was superbly done. I have to admit that there was one aspect of the novel that I found slightly less satisfying, and which in fact gives the book its title. Jennifer is a highly imaginative girl, very studious and introspective, and she's developed a fascination with two literary figures from the past: Aphra Behn, the 17th century poet and playwright, and the poet Shelley. She spends a lot of private time communing mentally with them, and eventually meets a rather curious elderly psychic who, she hopes, will set up a seance where she can contact Shelley in person. He does actually manage to conjure up a very dear friend of Jennifer's, who tragically died in an accident a couple of years earlier, and concludes that Jennifer herself has psychic abilities. All this is quite interesting in itself, but I couldn't quite see what it added to the overall direction in which the novel was going, though perhaps the fact that in the end Jennifer decides not to pursue the possibility of contacting Shelley acts as an indication of her growing maturity?
This is really just a quibble, though. Sally Emerson writes beautifully and has a wonderfully clear understanding of the way peoples' hearts and minds work. I look forward to reading more by this talented and fascinating author.
October 13, 2012
Making an unplanned visit to her mother’s restaurant late one night, fifteen year-old Jennifer Hamilton is shocked to surprise her mother with a lover. Jennifer lives in a very rich and private world of literary fantasy. She has little interest in boys as she regularly holds conversations with the poet Shelley, while another of her friends is the 17th century playwright and spy Mrs Aphra Behn, the subject of her father’s recently published biography.
The fact that Jennifer has the gift of ‘second sight’ lends a pleasing ambiguity to her communications with these historical figures. Less easy for Jennifer to reach is her friend Rebecca who was killed much more recently in a road accident, suggesting that Jennifer’s fantasies serve as an emotional ‘bandage’ insulating her from reality and feelings which she’s unable to deal with.
Jennifer’s greatest ambition is to hold a séance with Mr Davidson, the clairvoyant who lives across the square, so that he can cause the ghosts of all three of her dead friends to materialise so that others can see them.
Against his instincts, her father has been asked to write a book about the recent murder of a young woman. The young man accused of the murder can only offer as a defence some vague and unconvincing story about a burglar, while the situation is complicated by his glamorous and hysterical sister Lucinda writing letters to the prosecuting attorney, declaring her brother’s innocence while claiming an incestuous relationship with him.
The plot thickens when Jennifer’s mother takes a new lover, Paul, who had previously had relationships with both Lucinda and the murdered girl.
There are some first novels so accomplished that you know you’ll have to find more by that author: Rosalind Ashe’s Moths, Yaba Badoe’s True Murder, and Sally Emerson’s Second Sight are three such novels.
The fact that Jennifer has the gift of ‘second sight’ lends a pleasing ambiguity to her communications with these historical figures. Less easy for Jennifer to reach is her friend Rebecca who was killed much more recently in a road accident, suggesting that Jennifer’s fantasies serve as an emotional ‘bandage’ insulating her from reality and feelings which she’s unable to deal with.
Jennifer’s greatest ambition is to hold a séance with Mr Davidson, the clairvoyant who lives across the square, so that he can cause the ghosts of all three of her dead friends to materialise so that others can see them.
Against his instincts, her father has been asked to write a book about the recent murder of a young woman. The young man accused of the murder can only offer as a defence some vague and unconvincing story about a burglar, while the situation is complicated by his glamorous and hysterical sister Lucinda writing letters to the prosecuting attorney, declaring her brother’s innocence while claiming an incestuous relationship with him.
The plot thickens when Jennifer’s mother takes a new lover, Paul, who had previously had relationships with both Lucinda and the murdered girl.
There are some first novels so accomplished that you know you’ll have to find more by that author: Rosalind Ashe’s Moths, Yaba Badoe’s True Murder, and Sally Emerson’s Second Sight are three such novels.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews