Trouble with Lichen begins with Diana Brackley’s teachers congratulating her on her success at gaining a place at Cambridge with a scholarship to read chemistry. It reads at least a decade older than that, maybe even fifteen years, since it shares many of the plot points and social indicators of Josephine’s Tey’s Miss Pym Disposes (1946), also a novel questioning what young women should do with their lives after school, and also wrapped up with murder, biology and jealousy. When I reread it, for what must have been the 50 th time, I was surprised to see that it was first published in 1960. Trouble With Lichen is John Wyndham’s most explicit exploration of the uselessness of modern women’s lives. My falling-apart edition, a fairly scary cover if you don’t like needles
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