âÂÂTill September Petronellaâ is a work of short fiction by Jean Rhys originally appearing in The London Magazine (January 1960) and first collected in Tigers Are Better-Looking (1968) by André Deutsch (1968). The story is included in the 1987 volume Jean Rhys: The Collected Short Stories by W. W. Norton & Co..
âÂÂTill September Pretronellaâ is presented from a first-person point-of-view by a reliable narrator, Pertronella Gray, a young woman with an upper-middle-class education but now in reduced circumstances. The story is set in England at the end of the Belle Epoch and the start of World War I. The events unfold on a single day: July 28, 1914.
Petronella resides in a bed-sitting room near Torrington Square. Her income is five pounds a week. She has tried, but so far failed, to establish herself on the London stage as a chorus girl. An acquaintance, Marsten, a young painter, and his associate Julian, a talented musician and composer, have invited her to spend a fortnight at a summer cottage. Both men are from wealthy families. Delighted for an opportunity to escape London, she has accepted.
Petronella arrives at the cottage to find that Julian has a female companion, Frankie Morell. The two women recognize one another: they travel in the same demimonde circles in London.
Petronella gathers that Marsten is anxious to sleep with her, but is too diffident to make a forthright proposition. She does not find him sexually attractive. She is intrigued by Julian, referring to him as âÂÂthe great Julianâ and irritating Marsten. The banter over dinner among the foursome becomes rancorous, fueled with wine. Julian adopts an openly misogynistic attitude toward Petronella; Marsden accuses Julian of being jealous.
Distraught and disgusted, Petronella walks away from the cottage and onto the highway. She has left her handbag and money in her room. A local farmer pulls over and offers her a ride; he deposits her at a pub and orders her some tea while he attends to some business matters. He returns and good-naturally proposes they see each other regularly when he has business in LondonâÂÂto their mutual advantage. Petronella demures, but they drink a bottle of Clicquot, and she sings songs for him when they drive to pick up her purse. At the cottage, Petronella has a hostile exchange with Marsten; he in turn vehemently denounces Frankie. Petronella departs through the window to avoid further contact with the trio. Marsten calls after her: âÂÂSee you in September, Petronella. IâÂÂll be back in September.âÂÂ
The farmer purchases for Petornella a first-class carriage fare and deposits her at the train station. She arrives that night back in London. In hailing a taxi, she discovers a young gentleman has already secured the vehicle; he offers to share the ride with her. They drive toward her residence, but she suddenly expresses despair at returning to her garret. The gentleman is both wary and intrigued by her behavior. They agree to have dinner together; the young man suspects the woman may be seeking a male patron. When they part that evening, she insists that he return bearing a gold bracelet, after she returns in September. He declares, âÂÂAll right. IâÂÂll see you in September, Petronella.âÂÂ
Though first published in the sixties, âÂÂTill September Petronellaâ was written in the 1930s. The story is a reworking of the chapter âÂÂHebertsonâ in Rhys's 1924 (unpublished) novel Triple Sec (initially titled âÂÂSuzy Tells.â ( Triple sec is an orange-flavored liqueur introduced in France during the 19th century and widely used in cocktails.)
Biographer and critic Sue Thomas identifies the thematic elements in this precursor to âÂÂTill September PetronellaâÂÂ:
âÂÂTill September Petronellaâ exposes the nature of the rigid British social orders that persisted through the decline of the Empire. Focusing on a single day, Rhys âÂÂlays bare the forces of wealth and social class in womenâÂÂs experience" which, in turn, reflects conditions throughout âÂÂa whole nation.â Sue Thomas writes: âÂÂMy approach to "Till September PetronellaâÂÂ...emphasizes the historically contingent worldings or perspectives from which the various narratives emerge. This entails an analytic attentive to the discourses of empire, gender, sex, race, class, and desire...âÂÂ
âÂÂTill September Petronellaâ examines the sharp class distinctions between British aristocratic males and young women who have descended from the lower social echleon despite their education. These encounters are frustrating and humiliating for the woman. Biographers Cheryl and David Malcolm term the story âÂÂa report from the class war.âÂÂ
In London, Petronella serves as an escort for the upper-middle-class Melville. Rhys provides a dramatization of the class hostility in an exchange between the gentleman Melville and their Cockney taxi driver:
Rhys places the story in the context of the âÂÂGreat War.â the first global clash of modern militarized powers. Though limited in dramatic action, âÂÂRhys renders visible the shattering of psychic identity, whose intensity is no less violent [than] political and military cataclysms [which] challenge the mind through the monstrosity of their violence.â As such, the historical context âÂÂgives sexual romance a particular immediacy.âÂÂ
The story ends on a note of tragic irony. Both Marsten and Melville each bid adieu to Petronella with a promise to see her âÂÂin September.â The date is July 28, 1914, shortly after the European nations have declared war on one another. Within days or weeks these men will volunteer or be inducted into the army: British forces suffered almost 900,000 military deaths during the four-year conflict.