By
– September 13, 2011
The law of unintended consequences comes to mind when reading The Servant’s Quarters, for in this novel readers encounter a group of characters who are continually met with situations in which actions have unanticipated effects.
In the main, the novel is the coming of age story of Cressida, an impetuous, but clever and inquisitive nine-year-old Jewish girl growing up in the 1950’s in South Africa. She is eager to learn and experience life, but is riddled with social insecurities caused, in part, by a self-absorbed, supercilious mother and a comatose father. Despite her dysfunctional family environment, Cressida’s actions indicate her desire to become a responsible, reliable, and productive member of society. Yet, she cannot negotiate this space because, by her own admission, she “forgets to consider the consequences of anything” and ultimately decides that “considering the consequences of something before you actually [do] it…doom[s] [one] to failure right from the start.”
The invisible hand of unintended consequences is also evident when readers learn that both Cressida and her sister, Miranda, are haunted by nightmares about the Holocaust that “come alive for someone who hadn’t been born until it was over.” In Miranda’s case, these thoughts translate into debilitating nightmares; in Cressida’s case, the nightmares fuel her need to know her personal history.
The Servants’ Quarters is a multilayered novel in which Freed not only tells a love story, but also addresses social class, economic necessities, perceptions of normalcy, and subservience. Still, the psychological and philosophical undertones are what make this novel intriguing.
In the main, the novel is the coming of age story of Cressida, an impetuous, but clever and inquisitive nine-year-old Jewish girl growing up in the 1950’s in South Africa. She is eager to learn and experience life, but is riddled with social insecurities caused, in part, by a self-absorbed, supercilious mother and a comatose father. Despite her dysfunctional family environment, Cressida’s actions indicate her desire to become a responsible, reliable, and productive member of society. Yet, she cannot negotiate this space because, by her own admission, she “forgets to consider the consequences of anything” and ultimately decides that “considering the consequences of something before you actually [do] it…doom[s] [one] to failure right from the start.”
The invisible hand of unintended consequences is also evident when readers learn that both Cressida and her sister, Miranda, are haunted by nightmares about the Holocaust that “come alive for someone who hadn’t been born until it was over.” In Miranda’s case, these thoughts translate into debilitating nightmares; in Cressida’s case, the nightmares fuel her need to know her personal history.
The Servants’ Quarters is a multilayered novel in which Freed not only tells a love story, but also addresses social class, economic necessities, perceptions of normalcy, and subservience. Still, the psychological and philosophical undertones are what make this novel intriguing.
Malvina D. Engelberg, an independent scholar, has taught composition and literature at the university level for the past fifteen years. She is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Miami.
