"Smut: Stories," by Alan Bennett

Reading a book titled “Smut” makes me feel a bit risque. The initially innocent-looking cover made me smile, as at first I saw that it pictured several pairs of teacups, and thought “how lovely and British,” and then noticed that the teacups in each pair were posed interacting in various positions; what a combination of charm and the ever-so-slightly suggestive! However, “Smut: Stories” (Picador, 2010 and 2011) is written by the inestimable British author/playwright/autobiographer/screenplay writer/humorist Alan Bennett, and his “smut,” although it does include sexual themes and scenes, is more about human nature and human relationships than sex. Bennett, author of the wonderful “The Uncommon Reader” (which I wrote about here on 3/12/10), writes wryly, mischievously, and with great understanding about families, secrets, and delusions. A short book (152 pages), “Smut” contains two novellas, both of which are full of surprises and witty but -- dare I say it -- sometimes quite tender scenes. The first, “The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson,” tells of a recent widow in her fifties who fills her spare hours and earns some extra money by role-playing patients with various symptoms in order to help medical students practice. She also rents her spare room to students, and gets involved with them in a surprising way. The second novella is “The Shielding of Mrs. Forbes,” an elegant and slightly schematic story of a family in which everyone is hiding something, shielding someone from something, yet each family member actually knows more about each other’s secrets than she or he is letting on. There is adultery, secret homosexual trysts with strangers, online sexuality, blackmail, financial irregularities, snobbishness, and deceit all around. Yet somehow there is also loyalty, warmth, and caring. And in both stories, somehow everyone gets pretty much -- albeit not all of -- what she or he wants. Although these novellas push some boundaries, they really don’t seem terribly “smutty” at all. I found them great fun to read – light, entertaining, and quite insightful.