Sarah Fitzgerald

How many miles to Babylon?
Four score and ten, sir.
Will I get there by candlelight?
Yes, and back again, sir.

(How Many Miles to Babylon?)

This little snippet of poetry is merely one example of the lyrical style adopted by Jennifer Johnston in her novels. As she celebrates her ninetieth birthday on January 12, 2020, she has achieved a prolific writing career, spanning five decades. She won the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979, as well as a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards in 2012.  She is adept at writing poetic prose, as well as thought-provoking conversations between her characters. In addition, her ability to understand the psychology of the outcast or outsider shines through particularly in two of my favourite Johnston novels, How Many Miles to Babylon? and The Railway Station Man. In these two novels Johnston explores how her characters can be brought together, but also what can drive them apart.

Born in 1930, to Irish actress and director Shelah Richards and Irish playwright Denis Johnston, Johnston was alive to witness the Second World War, and conflict and divide are two prominent themes in both these novels. However, How Many Miles explores the realities of the First World War, not the Second. In this novel, Johnston reminds us that division begins at home: Alex, the only son of Frederick and Alicia, witnesses division between himself and his parents, and also between his mother and father. Alicia has no respect for Frederick, dubbing him an “ineffective man”. 

Johnston reinforces a sense of divide by introducing Jerry Crowe, a spirited young man from the lower classes on whom Alex heavily relies on for validation and emotional support.  Although on a superficial level, the pair seem unlikely friends, they are kindred spirits in part owing to the flawed relationships they have with their mothers; Alicia is jealous of Frederick’s affection towards his son, and Mrs Crowe is prepared to risk her son’s life for financial gain.   She cleverly bestows upon Jerry a harsh way of speaking, which contrasts with Alex’s well-spoken dialect. 

Johnston reminds us that it is our values and not geographical spaces that both unite and divide us. Alex and Jerry maintain their unique friendship when living in Ireland and their friendship continues to solidify on the “front line” in Belgium, even when class and rank should drive them apart. The reader is left to ponder the sacrifices of friendship when Alex shoots Jerry himself, the night before Jerry was to face the firing squad, an action which ultimately ends in death for Alex also. Alex and Jerry were not destined to survive within the harsh conditions of war, and their love for each other, argued by some to be of a romantic nature (although I personally consider their friendship to be platonic) survives right to the end of the novel. 

Of course, having lived in Derry, Northern Ireland for several years during the time of the “Troubles”, it is not surprising that Johnston should be interested in exploring the causes of division between her characters. The Railway Station Man is told in two narrative voices: Helen Cuffe speaks in the first person, her son Jack in the third person. A conflict of personalities emerges early in the novel: Helen is a free-spirit and struggling artist; Jack is an intelligent but highly impressionable young man who finds himself lured into a dangerous group with radical ideas. Helen’s husband Dan was killed in the 1970s during the Troubles. Helen depicts Dan as a sensible but predictable man, and it seems she cannot understand why they married. She feels guilty for the relief she feels after Dan’s death. Through her clever construction of conversation between the characters: between Helen and Jack, between Helen and Roger and between Jack and Damien, Johnston skilfully explores not only the elements that separate people, but also the elements that bring them together, one of which, as in the case of How Many Miles, is love. Helen and Roger, the “railway station man” are an unlikely couple: he is disagreeable and self-conscious about his prosthetic leg, she is ever-chirpy and deliberately refuses to conform to norms – she even enjoys walking in the rain. Nonetheless, the pair become a couple of sorts, despite their different outlooks. Even Damien, a once-dedicated Republican, admits that he loves working for Englishman Roger. In this novel, Johnston illustrates that some barriers can be overcome, as well as reminding us that others cannot.

In my opinion, Johnston should be one of the finest Irish writers of the modern era. Her distinctive combination of conversational and poetic styles make reading her novels a unique and memorable experience. AlthoughHow Many Miles and The Railway Station Man are not long novels, every single word was carefully crafted for the page. In any case, I believe that The Railway Station Man will always be one of my all-time favourite novels. Happy ninetieth birthday, Ms. Johnston, and thank you for your words.