Beyond the Glass by Antonia White

A very typical example of profoundly average 'women's writing' of the knock-off modernist variety. I feel like publishers like Virago and Persephone, dedicated to publishing 'forgotten' or 'neglected' works by female authors of the first half of the twentieth century, completely defeat their own purpose. Books like this only serve to prove that they had been rightly forgotten or neglected, and not because their authors are female (as these publishers want us to believe), but because they are simply bad. Beyond the Glass is an account of a young woman's plunge first into love, then into madness (with already a scuppered marriage behind her). While certain passages are (sometimes very) well-written and a delight to read, the rest is really awful. The characters are wooden, the love story melodramatic and juvenile. The part where Clara (the main character) goes 'mad', is rather well-done, but nothing extraordinary. Oh, and there's also some telepathy, which always kind of ruins a non-fantasy novel for me.