And yet—Agatha was tortured by jealousy. Till now, Clarissa had breathed, moved, and lived, only and entirely in sympathy with herself. She hated to lose a moment of her time, a word that she spoke. She wanted to keep everything.

And it was not only jealousy, but fear, lest Clarissa should somehow slip away.

She might go out, like a shooting star.

---

Title: The Love Child by Edith Olivier

Media: novel

Approx length: 208 short pages in my copy

Where to find it: there are some recent reprints, so it may be at your favorite bookseller or library; also, it has entered the US public domain this year, and I’m currently working on digitizing it to share freely.

What is it, in summary?: A short novel from 1927 about Agatha Bodenham, a lonely, unfulfilled woman who, after the death of her mother, finds her childhood imaginary friend returning to her—and gradually becoming a real little girl, Clarissa. With Clarissa in her life, she has a second chance at many things that she’s missed—friendship, motherhood, and the imagination that was stunted by her upbringing. But is their companionship too perfect to last?

It is less sentimental and more slightly disturbing (on a very abstract, emotional level) than that makes it sound, but it’s the best I can do without spoilers.

What do you love about it?: It’s a very quiet book; even the fantastical element is just kind of slipped in, and I love that sort of genre ambiguity. Agatha is a wonderfully complex portrait of a seemingly unremarkable woman, with a lot of the story being about the hidden depths that are in everyone and the pain that’s caused when they’re not acknowledged. Beyond just Agatha, the entire story is intrinsically centered on female characters, very much as a matter of course, which I find very nice. I like the multiple thematic resonances—Agatha’s relationship with Clarissa represents the struggle of the artist with her material, but also motherhood as a potentially liberating and potentially stifling relationship, but also the intrinsic alienation and longing for connection in all human relationships… There’s also some cool meta implications—Olivier wrote the novel soon after her own mother’s death, and while Agatha is hardly an autobiographical character, I think it’s fascinating that there’s a level on which she’s just as “made up” as her imaginary friend Clarissa.

What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: All definitely gen: Pre-canon fic about Agatha’s original invention of Clarissa in her childhood; outsider POV, especially from the perspective of Agatha’s cook and housemaid, who seem to see a lot more than Agatha accounts for; anything playing with those meta implications. I’d also be delighted by art treats—there are some really visually lovely scenes in the novel, especially around Clarissa’s early appearances. (I also think it’s worth saying that I am not that interested in a straightforward post-canon fix-it.)

Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: Not really, but it’s a short book.

Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Nothing that I can think of, unless there’s some brief instance of “period-typical something” that I’m forgetting.

That's awesome! It's my first time digitizing a book, but I'm really enjoying the process.

Enjoy The Love Child if you decide to check it out!