House Mother Normal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 First edition | |
| Author | B. S. Johnson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Collins |
Publication date | 1971 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Hardback and Paperback |
| Pages | 201 |
| ISBN | 0-906427-62-2 |
| OCLC | 221859 |
| 823/.9/14 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.J668 Ho PR6060.O3 |
| Preceded by | The Unfortunates |
| Followed by | Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry |
House Mother Normal (subtitle – "A Geriatric Comedy") is a novel by the experimental writer B. S. Johnson.[1] As is typical of Johnson's work the novel is written in an unorthodox style, with the story being mainly told through the perspectives of the residents of a nursing home, each going through progressively worse states of dementia.
The novel is set in a nursing home. It follows part of a typical day for a group of elderly people, both male and female. Their thoughts, memories and opinions of each other and the abusive House Mother (head matron) are explored as they go about their activities, which include: dining, singing, making items for the House Mother to sell on the black market, playing pass-the-parcel in which the prize is faeces from the House Mother's dog Ralphie, exercising, participating in wheelchair jousts using dirty mops at the House Mother's instruction, forced to laugh at the House Mother's ageist jokes, and then being made to watch the Ralphie perform cunnilingus on the House Mother.
The novel is told through first the perspective of eight residents of the nursing home, each of whom is given a "CQ count", a dementia test scored out of ten. It starts with the most-aware person, Sarah Lamson (CQ count: 10/10), followed by Charlie Edwards (10/10), Ivy Nicholls (10/10), Ron Lamson (8/10), Gloria Ridge (6/10), Sioned Bowen (8/10), George Hedbury (2/10) and Rosetta Stanton (0/10), who has the most advanced form of dementia. The final chapter is told from the perspective of the House Mother.