Research ta From Page 18 es of my psyche, still thinks that’s what women ought to look like,” he says with -an exaggerated sigh. “You get marked by the peniod i in which you reach adoles- cence.” Maillard shares his wonderful insight “into this era when Gloria makes a jist of do’s and don’ts for “our sort”. She writes ‘in her diary: “our sort are not cheerlead- ers... do not chew gum, drink anything traight from the bottle, eat on the street, ‘tape pictures of movie stars to their walls, listen to polka music or country music, “learn to twirl batons or wear white cow- : boy boots.” -_As suffocating as the social rules were, it would be remiss to write a novel set in “the souchem U.S. in the 1950s without e<-< exploring the influence of religion for, as “Maillard notes, rhe highest number of “regular churchgoers in the history of the * Republic.was in that decade. The most poignant effect on the young women “from the powerful brew of social and reli- ‘gious rules in this novel is a sense of ishame regarding their normal sexual desires. When Rolland asks her if she feels : bad’ about a fairly innocent encounter, “Gloria wonders if it’s a test and slips into “her habit of poetry: “everything had’ : seemed——vwell, Natural— but now sicklied Yer with the pale: cast of thought...” Until she can find her own words,» Gloria takes refuge in T.S. Eliot, W.B. Yeats, ‘our:d among others. Their pociry injects an clevated cadence othe language of b everyday life and ¢ novel itself. tening to young ainister telling the congrega-- tion that heil is not.a place but rather “tha nel Is‘a meta hora a symbol for ell, the hell Tohn’ Milton wrote “A Dungeon horrible, on all'sides wind /As one great: Furnace flam’d, yet from those. flames/No light, bu rather } nate This nove contains - ome negative r reac. age which ‘may make | romarice rather» icaragia. | ‘o Caldera; Costa Rica an Feb,: ” she thinks give us - NGRTH Shore resident Keith Maillard’s novel Gloria was nomi- nated for the Governor-General’s Award for Literary Fiction. very carcfully what you sec is a reason- ably pretty but no knock-out gist who really is beautifully made up. “It is a very fifties i image. Look at “ how carefully she’s done her fp liner, how carefully she’s donc her cycliner and mascara. Much of what is socially con- strued as beautiful is artifice. She has become expert in manipulating that social surface to make her life.casier. “One of the things [ read during my research was Sylvia Plath’s journals. It is amazing how much Sylvia, who was on her way to becoming an intellectual and a world-renowned poct, spent thinking ‘about her clothes and m Dp. “This intellectual versus real girl split "drove Sylvia absolutely n nuts and Gloria's - got that same split too.” Unfortunarely, Glotia is not wrong to assume that peo- ~, ple will make judgements about her based on her appearance. In the frequent protracted descri yotions of Gloria getting ‘dressed, Maillard leaves no doubt that makeup becomes a disguise, clothes a. . "€ostume, as Gloria adeptly transforms herself from country club belle, to Hirde girl to seductress. ":»Another influence; the aftershocks of Pearl Harbour, are barely perceptible rip-- ples by the’ time they reach Gloria’s life. : Even as her father tears up the backyard: _ to ‘build a bomb shelter, Gloria refuses to ~. at ‘something beyond | her con: - nigers emma The ceuiseship holds about'400 passengers. oe ings'are throes day wii ,EWO 8 da y when. in | wen: the ship is at. -.: rts Critics discuss their : bert, anda misi clips and conversations’ f the « critics to hor Because. of its eastern departar point, the fest al ed litte terest cm, Psat Four. Eleven Pr -* Fox'are presenting Noise for Toys - (Christmas ‘Sunday, Nov. 21 at. the WISE Club, 1882 © “ Adawac St.; Vancouver. The all ages Noise © ‘Extravaganza features ‘Noise Therapy, trol. This strange sense of denial, notes Maillard, was an accurate portrayal of the time. “There was an almost acti repression of thought about chese things because they were too horrible to con- template... there was readily accessible knewlcdge about the effects of atomic bombs. Gloria knows perfectly well that if you dropped an atomic bomb on the stecl milis along the Ohio River that her little house and bomb shelter is going right up along with everything else, which you would think Ted would know but a surprising number of people did- n't. I found some wonderful things from the period. There’s a Ladies Hame Journal article (from the carly 1950s} on how to survive a nuclear attack. Ic is the most pathetic thing Pve ever seen. And people believed it and they were down in their basements building these little shelters and putting aside raincoats because if they had to go outside the coats would catch the fallout. There are things like ‘if you think you've contract- ed a sickness from radioactivity you ~ should see your doctor at once’ and pre- cautions that you may have to stay in your basement for a few days or even a few weeks.” Maillard spent cight years researching and writing Gloria. He admits to becoming quite engrossed in the research process. He learned about the secret life of sorority girls (short of their initiation rituals which no self-respecting sorority girl would reveal), the basics of baton twirling, read up on topics as diverse as experiences of World War IL, and the American steel industry, to numerous magazines such as the Woman’s Home Companion which advised young women on proper dress and behaviour and cven a how-to book on winning a beauty contest, He has already started his next novel, which he describes as “the view from the bottom of Raysburg—mainly about steel work- ers. I've stafted researching pulp mills - and steel mills. My main character’s sis- - ter is in an all girls Polka band so I’ve , become a ‘minor authority on the Polish- American Polka,” he laughs. After eight years of working on this. novel, Maillard is understandably pleased - to put it in the hands of readers. He was not alone. “My wife says she was really glad to see Gloria graduate—she’s © ~~ enjoyed Gloria ia being F here but she wisvt ‘or more information about the we ‘lm Festival, call: . : Hannah Fisher at 682- 2663 oF Rosie Durham at Brotherton’s Travel, 1 800-772-4101.. uctions and 99. 3 The. ; y Drive for the Toy Bank). “Tempiar, Sound Pressure Manifes cand ‘ Exit This Side. Bring a new ‘unwrapped toy for. the Toy Bank and receive song compilation. Doors open a -with the show starti Bat 4p. $10 at ‘the door onl #3738 Mount Seymour Pk r. 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