Peter Wolfe on Mary Renault, 1969
In spite of these disclaimers, however, the final judgment of The Charioteer must be warmly positive. Although the subject matter of the book makes it a chafing experience, its probing honesty awakens our moral responsibility to an urgent social problem. Had Mary Renault designed her novel as easy-going popular fiction, she would have sacrificed its grating persistence. The nature of Laurie Odell’s commitment and the inevitable loss of his human ideal may well encourage posterity to praise The Charioteer as her finest work.
Thank you to @bigzombiephilosopher-blog for recommending this book, which is unusual in being an attempt to evaluate Mary's literary career while she was still writing, at a time when her subject matter was still controversial. Some of the historical context is helpful too, particularly his theories about social cohesion and where she fit in to the turbulent times of the 30s. Even then she seemed to be a writer who was hard to categorise. You'll have to read the book to find out what his 'disclaimers' on TC were! Well worth a look, he does not mince his words and has some 'interesting' opinions on the novels too. Made me think about what makes a good book.
