Martin Amis’s Pregnant Widow

The Pregnant Widow
by Martin Amis.

Martin Amis’s The Pregnant Widow is a novel that explores the consequences of the sexual and feminist revolution of the 1970s on the lives of a group of young British people who spend the summer in an Italian castle. The protagonist, Keith Nearing, is twenty years old and faces several existential dilemmas: should he be faithful to his girlfriend Lily or succumb to the charms of Scheherazade, his voluptuous friend? What is the point of studying literature in a time of radical change? How should he define his identity and his role in the world?

The Pregnant Widow is a novel by British writer Martin Amis, published in 2010, which deals with the sexual revolution of the 1970s and how a series of characters experienced it. The story follows Keith Nearing, a twenty-year-old who spends the summer in a castle in Italy with his girlfriend Lily, who returns after three months of freedom to experiment with other customs and other bodies.

At the castle, a group of young people face the turbulent waters of change, with the girls behaving like boys and the boys remaining boys. The sexual revolution brings with it the feminist revolution, and in the midst of these revolutions, Keith has several fronts open: seducing Scheherazade, his girlfriend’s beautiful friend who that summer has spread her breasts and wings like a swan; climbing and conquering the canon of British literature; and building himself, an imperative necessity at twenty years old.

The novel is a fiercely sarcastic critique of the sexual revolution of the 1970s and a not-so-veiled portrait of the author’s erotic adventures at the time. Amis addresses the belief that this revolution put great pressure on women and that his sister Sally, who died in 2000 after episodes of depression and alcoholism, was one of its victims.

The Pregnant Widow begins as a brilliant comedy of manners in the tradition of 19th-century English novels read by its protagonist, and then delves into deeper, more thoughtful themes. The play has been praised for its style and ability to tackle complex and universal themes, though it has also been criticized for its focus on the author’s personal life.

In short, The Pregnant Widow is a provocative and challenging novel that offers a critical and sarcastic look at the sexual revolution of the 1970s and its consequences on the lives of its characters. Martin Amis’s work is a recommended read for those interested in contemporary British literature and the exploration of universal themes such as love, identity and the search for freedom.