Leonora Carrington’s (1917-2011) weirdly wonderful novella is an odd and enjoyable one. The writer and surrealist painter was born in Clayton-le-Woods of Chorley, Lancashire (and we grew up in Chorley).

Carrington was born into a wealthy family. She was well educated but soon came to be known as a talented eccentric who fled to Paris and then Mexico.

She was also known for her eccentric behaviour, as the introduction to The Hearing Trumpet reveals (a lot of which was clearly down to her privilege, we must note).

However, this lady was no talentless annoyance. This quirky, compelling, and quite fantastical novella proves it. It’s a cult classic, has been described as the “occult twin to Alice in Wonderland”, and we’re celebrating it today.

Ageism and Surrealism in The Hearing Trumpet

“People under seventy and over seven are very unreliable if they are not cats.”

Released in England in 1974, this novella is about a 92-year-old lady called Marian Leatherby. As a present from a relative, she’s provided with an ornate hearing trumpet which amplifies sounds for the hard of hearing older lady.

This, inadvertently, means she overhears her family discussing her—they’re convinced Marian is doddering and past it. They want to shuffle her on.

It seems she’s set for a retirement home, despite the fact she’s still of sound mind, but she doesn’t get much choice in the matter.

The one her family shuffles her off to is really rather warped indeed.

Carrington layers The Hearing Trumpet with often cryptic philosophising, pointing at the absurdities ahead whilst maintaining a lyrical nature. Behold:

“You may not believe in magic but something very strange is happening at this very moment. Your head has dissolved into thin air and I can see the rhododendrons through your stomach. It’s not that you are dead or anything dramatic like that, it is simply that you are fading away and I can’t even remember your name.”

What unfolds in the story is a contemplation on ageing, the female body, and mental health. To be clear, this is a work of feminism—just one completed in surrealist fashion.

Carrington formed a feminist movement in Mexico during the 1970s. The Hearing Trumpet was written during that phase, with a focus on body shaming.

This apparently makes the work one of the first in the 20th century to tackle subject matter such as gender identity.

And we think there are some parallels with Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) to be found here. Again in more surrealist fashion, but she encourages the reader to think about the subject matter in a way they would normally not.

As in, having actual concerns for an elderly lady and her state of mind.

It’s pertinent and rather prescient, in many respects, but it’s also presented in a way that involves wickedly silly, black humour that’ll liven up your day.

Not that it’s super upbeat in its approach. The Hearing Trumpet soon descends into a nightmarish world where the elderly are treated really badly.

If you think of Hubert Selby Jr.’s Requiem for a Dream (1978), and the treatment of the elderly Sara Goldfarb in that, and there’s a similarity.

All the residents live in weird buildings shaped like cakes or igloos, there are strange religious ceremonies, and there’s a spooky painting in the canteen which resides over everyone as they eat.

As Marian adjusts to her new life, she’s handed a book by a fellow resident that, unexpectedly, sets off a fantastical adventure (we’re not dropping any spoilers in about that).

Yes, so this is an excellent fun novella with wacky elements but a quite poignant outlook on the nature of life, which is subtlety hinted at whilst all the hearing trumpet madness plays out.

It’s an imaginative and vivid story and one that’ll challenge your state of mind, too.

And a Few Notes on Leonora Carrington’s Surrealist Paintings

To note, Leonora Carrington was primarily most famous for her work as a fantasy and surrealist painter.

She created some seriously fantastical paintings and sculptures, some of which are dotted all around the world. There are also regular exhibitions of her work.

Carrington absolutely loved the creative process. In her work The Seventh Horse and Other Tales she wrote:

“Art is a magic which makes the hours melt away and even days dissolve into seconds, isn’t that so, dear lady?”

She also told The Guardian in 2007 article Leonora and Me:

“When I ask her how a painting comes about, what the impetus is, she fixes me with the Moorhead stare. ‘You don’t decide to paint. It’s like getting hungry and going to the kitchen to eat. It’s a need, not a choice.'”

Carrington’s focus for her work was on alchemy and magical realism. A lot of the pieces are intentions on expressing female sexuality. One of her most famous pieces is The Magical World of the Mayans (1963-1964).

Famously, she moved to Mexico with German surrealist artist Max Ernst (1891-1976) so she was very confident in what she was doing.

But take a look! She has plenty of work to view online and, alongside her books, she’s one of the more obscure surrealists feminist writers of the 20th century. But she demands some respect!