Status
Available
Genres
Publication
W. W. Norton & Company (1976), Paperback, 249 pages
Description
In the hallowed halls of one of New England's most prestigious colleges, a young woman finds new and unexpected life as professor while a scandal brews just on the periphery On the train north from New York City, Lucy Winter takes inventory of her life. Twenty-seven and newly single, Lucy is headed toward a fate she never anticipated: professorship at a women's college in New England. Her doctorate degree, obtained from Harvard, was more of a hobby than a professional aspiration--something to occupy her time while her fiancé completed his medical studies nearby. But at Appleton College she finds new enthusiasm in academia, teaching young women to be brilliant in a society that does not yet value their intellect. When Lucy discovers a scandal involving a star student, she ignites controversy on the campus. Many in the faculty rush to either defend or condemn the student, who is carrying the burden that often accompanies excellence. At the center of the political maelstrom is Lucy, who, despite her newfound difficulties on campus, is finding that her unexpected detour to Appleton may lead to a more rich and rewarding life than she ever anticipated. An insightful and inspiring study of scholarship, teaching, and women in academia, The Small Room is also the memorable story of a young professor coming into her own.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member robinamelia
It's hard to believe that colleges once paid this much attention to their students. It seems more like a boarding school than a college. Most of that may be due to the date it was published: 1961. That means the events would have taken place in the late 50s, when college girls would still have worn
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dresses and knee socks. But the main issue that makes this seem a very distant era is the sense that a woman becoming a college professor was pursuing a vocation that stood in contrast to the "normal" desire to have a husband and raise a family. Was this really the bargain that had to be struck? Show Less
LibraryThing member Brennagh
A Small Room is a little gem of a novel about an English professor’s first teaching job at a very small, all female college in New England. I really enjoy novels about academia and A Small Room had all the requisite elements—the closed off environment, the eccentric personalities, the students'
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crushes on favorite teachers. Because this occurs at the end of the 1950’s (the book was published in 1961), the college almost seems more like a prep school. Although the students are still wearing plaid skirts and knee socks and leading sheltered lives, change is coming and the new teacher lands right in the middle of the turbulence. Sarton does a great job of having the main character discover what makes a good teacher. This is the first book that I have read by Sarton. She was very prolific and I looking forward to exploring her novels and memoirs. Show Less
LibraryThing member rmckeown
I have never read anything by May Sarton – except for a few short stories. When a member of my book club recommended this title, I became intrigued. I enjoy novels describing the ins and outs, ups and downs, and other antics which play out behind the scenes in academia. Sarton’s novel, A Small
Lucy Winter has a newly minted PhD in hand, and she takes a job at a small New England women’s college as a professor of English. The dynamic relationships in the college fascinate me the most. Among the faculty, between the faculty and the administration, and between the students and the faculty.
Carryl Cope is a veteran professor with lots of clout with the administration. She is also intimately involved with a member of the Board of Trustees who holds the purse springs of a substantial endowment in a will. Carryl also has a prize student, Jane Seamen, whom she is grooming for grad school and what promises to be a stellar academic career. Then Lucy discovers Jane has seriously plagiarized an essay for the college literary magazine. Lucy caught in the eddy of the politics – pro- and anti-Carryl, pro- and anti-Jane, and then the agitated students are thrown into the mix. Lucy handles all this with aplomb, but with a touch of trepidation since she must slide on a knife’s edge to the resolution of the situation.
The novel overflows with statements and observations most teachers have felt at one time or another – I know many of them are all too familiar to me. For example, “‘The hell of teaching is that one is never prepared. I often think that before every class I feel the same sort of terror I used to experience before an examination … and always I imagine that next year it will be different’” (28). A familiar refrain in our building at every semester’s end runs like this: “Next semester will be better!”
On her first day of class, Lucy decides to reveal something about herself to the students. She tells them, “‘You will discover,’ she added with a smile, ‘that you appreciate teachers rather a long time after you have suffered from them’” (34) I can only hope this one has a grain of truth. I know I want it to be true. Lastly, Sarton writes, “‘The relation between student and teacher must be about the most complex and ill-defined there is’” (83). I know this one to be absolutely true. Literally dozens of other examples have my pencil marks.
Another little game I played with this interesting cast of characters included matching some of Sarton’s characters with some of my colleagues. And, of course for fans of Mad Men, ubiquitous cigarettes and martinis accompany every meeting no matter the size. This quite dates the novel in the year originally published – 1961.
All in all,May Sarton's The Small Room will surely appeal to anyone who has spent some time at the head of a class. At our book club, an animated discussion lasted nearly all of the two hours allotted. I noticed that a few non-teaching members of the club were uncharacteristically silent during these discussions. Nevertheless, everyone seemed to enjoy the novel. 4 stars for so much smoking I found myself coughing as I read.
--Jim, 8/20/12
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Room takes its place among several novels of this genre I read over the last few years.Lucy Winter has a newly minted PhD in hand, and she takes a job at a small New England women’s college as a professor of English. The dynamic relationships in the college fascinate me the most. Among the faculty, between the faculty and the administration, and between the students and the faculty.
Carryl Cope is a veteran professor with lots of clout with the administration. She is also intimately involved with a member of the Board of Trustees who holds the purse springs of a substantial endowment in a will. Carryl also has a prize student, Jane Seamen, whom she is grooming for grad school and what promises to be a stellar academic career. Then Lucy discovers Jane has seriously plagiarized an essay for the college literary magazine. Lucy caught in the eddy of the politics – pro- and anti-Carryl, pro- and anti-Jane, and then the agitated students are thrown into the mix. Lucy handles all this with aplomb, but with a touch of trepidation since she must slide on a knife’s edge to the resolution of the situation.
The novel overflows with statements and observations most teachers have felt at one time or another – I know many of them are all too familiar to me. For example, “‘The hell of teaching is that one is never prepared. I often think that before every class I feel the same sort of terror I used to experience before an examination … and always I imagine that next year it will be different’” (28). A familiar refrain in our building at every semester’s end runs like this: “Next semester will be better!”
On her first day of class, Lucy decides to reveal something about herself to the students. She tells them, “‘You will discover,’ she added with a smile, ‘that you appreciate teachers rather a long time after you have suffered from them’” (34) I can only hope this one has a grain of truth. I know I want it to be true. Lastly, Sarton writes, “‘The relation between student and teacher must be about the most complex and ill-defined there is’” (83). I know this one to be absolutely true. Literally dozens of other examples have my pencil marks.
Another little game I played with this interesting cast of characters included matching some of Sarton’s characters with some of my colleagues. And, of course for fans of Mad Men, ubiquitous cigarettes and martinis accompany every meeting no matter the size. This quite dates the novel in the year originally published – 1961.
All in all,May Sarton's The Small Room will surely appeal to anyone who has spent some time at the head of a class. At our book club, an animated discussion lasted nearly all of the two hours allotted. I noticed that a few non-teaching members of the club were uncharacteristically silent during these discussions. Nevertheless, everyone seemed to enjoy the novel. 4 stars for so much smoking I found myself coughing as I read.
--Jim, 8/20/12
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LibraryThing member judithrs
The Small Room. May Sarton. 1961. I’ve heard of May Sarton for years but knew nothing about her so when this book turned up on the kindle and it was a novel set in a college I had to try it. I like novels with academic settings. Lucy Winter accepted a job to teach American Lit at a small girl’s
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college in New England. She was fresh out of grad school and recovering from a broken heart. She is immediately invited into a small group of faculty members who meet for cocktails. She struggles with her classes and is determined to remain aloof from the students. Then she discovers that a star student who is a protégé of a very strong opinionated faculty member has plagiarized a paper that was to be published in the school magazine. Not much suspense but the interplay between the characters interesting. There is a covert air of lesbianism throughout that might bother some readers. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1961
Physical description
256 p.; 5.5 inches
ISBN
0393008320 / 9780393008326
Local notes
fiction