09/26/2022
In this passionate literary “biography,” Turner (Chaucer: A European Life) delves into the legacy of Chaucer’s Alison of Bath. As Turner writes, “the story of Alison in the world... crosses continents as well as centuries, languages as well as gender, popular as well as high culture. Her story is still very much alive.” Broken into two parts dealing with Alison’s medieval and modern presence, Turner’s study investigates the historical context, fictional characters, and working women that inspired Alison’s creation: a large part of her “project,” Turner posits, is to “shine a light on the fact that there is usually no place in stories like this for reasonable older women.” The character influenced Shakespeare (in Merry Wives) as well as Zadie Smith (who wrote a play about her), Turner writes, and one of Alison’s most notable aspects is her nonconformist nature: “whether readers and writers are more worried about her as a sexual, political, or religious rebel, those who wish to silence her are all motivated by seeing Alison as a threat to established authority and order.” Turner’s prose is straightforward, artful, and occasionally biting—“Across time, the point at which girls become sexually available is generally the point at which they become interesting to writers.” Fans of Chaucer’s work and literature lovers more generally shouldn’t miss this. (Jan.)
