Miss Hargreaves, by Frank Baker -- a review by Jill Hand

What begins as a joke becomes frighteningly real in this spirited fantasy with a dark undercurrent.

On a rainy afternoon at the end of a vacation trip to Ireland, two young friends, Norman Huntley and Henry Beddow, seek shelter in a church. The sexton shows them around, pointing out what he considers to be the musty old building’s many fine features. Norman and Henry impishly claim to be acquainted with someone who knew the church’s late pastor, a Mr. Archer. The sexton is obsessed with Archer and is eager to hear more. They oblige by spinning a tale about an elderly woman named Constance Hargreaves, who knew Archer in her youth.

Norman and Henry leave the church delighted by their mutual act of creativity. They adjourn to a bar, where they continue the game by making up details about the fictitious Miss Hargreaves. She is a niece of the Duke of Grosvenor. She writes poetry, having published a volume of verses titled Wayside Bundle. She owns a cockatoo named Dr. Pepusch and a Bedlington terrier named Sarah. She plays the harp, and goes everywhere with it, along with a hip bath, given to her by Mr. Archer.

Her current whereabouts, they decide, is a hotel in Hereford. Spurred on by Henry, Norman writes to her there. The letter ends with, “Any time you care to come and stay with us at Cornford you will be more than welcome. My mother and father have long hoped to meet you and I need hardly say that this invitation extends also to Sarah and Dr. Pepusch. Send me a card any time you feel like coming.”

To his amazement, Norman receives a reply from Miss Hargreaves, accepting the invitation. 

He assumes Henry sent it, but his friend denies it. Things get weirder when Norman’s father, the owner of a bookstore and himself no slouch at making up fantastic stories, brings home a copy of Wayside Bundle, by none other than Constance Hargreaves.

Are Norman’s family and friends conspiring to play a prank on him, or is something supernatural going on? Have he and Henry accidentally created a living, breathing human being, sprung fully grown from their imaginations, like the goddess Athena from Zeus’ forehead? Or is Miss Hargreaves a type of genie that, having escaped from its bottle, gleefully proceeds to create mischief in the sleepy Buckinghamshire town of Cornford?

Miss Hargreaves has elements of Frankenstein, with the monster turning against Victor Frankenstein when the good doctor rebuffs him. Stephen King’s readers will recognize a similar theme in his novel The Dark Half, where a sinister invention of an author’s imagination – his evil twin, so to speak - comes to life and embarks on a killing spree. 

Fortunately, Constance Hargreaves doesn’t kill anyone. She’s too ladylike for that, but she makes things unpleasant for Norman when he fails to cater to her every whim. Once she is unleashed, Norman is unable to control her. Like a poltergeist, she wreaks havoc, dragging Norman into disgrace.

Miss Hargreaves celebrates the human imagination and the power of creativity. Somewhat uneven in places – Henry Beddow should be a more fully fleshed character instead of simply a second banana to Norman, and Norman’s father is inexplicably cruel to his servile shop assistant – it’s still a marvelous piece of work, one which has attracted a cult following.

As a side note, Frank Baker played the organ and the piano in a May 14, 1951 performance of "Miss Hargreaves" on the BBC Home Service. Dame Margaret Rutherford, best known for her roles in Nӧel Coward’s "Blythe Spirit" and Oscar Wilde’s "The Importance of Being Ernest," portrayed the title character, both in the radio broadcast and in a stage play produced in London at the Royal Court Theater.

As a gift to his literary friends, Baker published Wayside Bundle, a 24-page volume of poetry ostensibly by Constance Hargreaves, in 1959. The book is rare, with only 350 copies having been printed on handmade paper in a cardboard cover. Those not fortunate enough to own a copy will find many of the poems included in Miss Hargreaves.

First published in 1940, Miss Hargreaves was re-released by the Bloomsbury Group in 2011.

About the reviewer:

Jill Hand is a reclusive, nocturnal mammal with sharp claws and acute hearing. She likes marzipan and coffee. She is the author of White Oaks and Black Willows, both Southern Gothic thrillers from Black Rose Writing.