Smut by Alan Bennett, Faber & Faber, $24.95.
British master Alan Bennett subtitles his latest Two Unseemly Stories, perfectly summing up these short peeks behind the suburban blind at the unconventional sexual lives of two apparently conventional, middle-aged women.
For the widowed Mrs Donaldson, taking in lodgers to help make ends meet, it’s the offer by a nice pair of students to augment their rent by staging a sex show which she finds rather more titillating — and liberating — than expected.
While Mrs Forbes is a bossy wife and over-loving mother who believes in “keeping up appearances” at all costs, leaving her in comical ignorance as to the sexual peccadilloes of every family member — including her married, secretly gay and, sadly, quite stupid son.
Although maybe Mrs Forbes knows a lot more than it seems… It’s low-level smutty, high-grade subversive and huge fun for all concerned — especially the reader.
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