A critical review of four novels by Celia Brayfield considering their production and impact in the context of contemporary literature

Abstract

This critical review of four novels by Celia Brayfield, Getting Home, Mister Fabulous And Friends, Heartswap and Wild Weekend, outlines the themes that give the works defining coherence, which are a feminist evaluation of gender roles and an exploration of the relationship between space or place in millennial Britain. The author contextualises her novels in considering literary representations of the suburb in literature and use of the device of gender reversal in fiction. The review demonstrates that the novels make a significant and coherent contribution to knowledge as resonant and well-received creative works and provides an assessment of their international and national impact. In discussing the inspiration and influences of her work, her choices in characterisation, narrative and dramatised argument, and in particular her decision to create responses to two classic texts using the device of gender reversal, the author justifies the overarching approach and methodologies used for these novels.