Harriet Said (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Beryl Bainbridge
- First Published: 1972
- Type of Work: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: Mid-twentieth century
- Setting: Formby, England
- Principal Characters: The first-person Narrator, Harriet, Peter “Tsar” Biggs, Mrs. Biggs
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age, Children, Sex or sexuality, Murder or homicide, Twentieth century, England or English people, Good and evil, Ethics
- Locales: England
The Novel
The action of the novel takes place in an extended flashback that covers the summer holidays of two young teenage girls: the unnamed narrator and her friend Harriet. The narrator tells a dispassionate story of how she and her friend destroy the self-effacing Peter Biggs, whom they have named “Tsar.” The choice of this name highlights their childish romanticism and ignorance. The summer for them is no innocent rite of passage into young womanhood but rather the working out of their twisted need to control and destroy those adults who get in their way.
The...
[The entire page is 2185 words long]
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