BOO KS
1055
tension with the reality of loving. But
in
the meantime there are a good
many rich asides: sly thievery, a touch of barely noticeable lesbian feel–
ing, a marvellous exercise in conversational solipsism, a subtle examina–
tion of status relationships among the servants, and the unfolding of
Raunce's complex character from traditional clown ("clean your teeth
before you have anything to do with a woman") to a man of con–
siderable sensibility.
All this could be bungled with great ease, and the reason Green does
not is that he writes about the servants' life from a steady uncondescend–
ing distance. No nonsense here about the author being a butler or scul–
lery maid; Green is Green and not Raunce, which is why Raunce is.
An author has no obligation to identify himself with his hero, he needs
only to create him, and in
Loving
the condition for creating is distance
maintained and measured. This is why the novel is so good, but there are
other reasons too: Green's willingness to grant credit to his characters,
to let them live and move in their own terms; his very fine ear; and his
occasional shy eruptions into lyrical description that help establish the
fairy quality of the book.
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