This early novel by Brookner is about Frances Hinton, a not-young woman who works in the reference library of a medical research institute and does not like to be called Fanny. Her life is a lonely one, lightened only by her friend and co-worker Olivia, a woman who is never discomposed. Frances says that \u201cProblems of human behavior still continue to baffle us, but at least in the Library we have them properly filed.\u201d She shares with us the antics of the regular patrons of the library, including reticent Dr. Simek and the blowsy Mrs. Halloran. <\/p>\n
Then there's Nick Fraser. \u201c\u2018That,' says Mrs. Halloran heavily after every other one of Nick's disruptive visits to the Library, \u2018is one hell of a man.'\u201d Nick and his wife Alix are a lively, charming couple who add a new dimension to Frances's life by unexpectedly taking her up, inviting her to dinner and other outings with them. They call her Little Orphan Fanny and carelessly bring her into their circle of friends. <\/p>\n
For Frances, it is more than their charm and brilliant sheen that attract her; she wants to learn how to be selfish. She says that she never wants to be loved by the sort of men who loved her mother: \u201ckind, shy, easily damaged.\u201d She says, \u201cIn a way I prefer them to be impervious, even if it means they are impervious to me.\u201d Later she says, \u201cI needed to know that not everyone carries a wound and that this wound bleeds intermittently throughout life.\u201d Yet the title betrays a fundamental human need that cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n